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S- INAUGTJEAL ADDRESS ' '

THOMAS K HAET,

. MAYOR T)F BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JASUARI fr, 1890.

BOSTON;

ROCKWELL AND CHnRCHILL, CITY PRINTERS.

1890.

IMUGUEAL ADBEESS

THOMAS N. HAET,

MATOE OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANCAET 6, 1890.

BOSTON:

ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL, CITY PRINTERS.

1890.

Ifi

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the City Council: —

The circumstances under wbich we begin the
City Government of 1890 place upon us unusual
responsibilities. Unless I misjudge public opin-
ion, we shall be watched more closely than were
our predecessors. The voters and taxpayers of
Boston, it seems to me, are not in the mood to
be satisfied with mere routine work; they insist
that their Government shall be not only efficient
and pure, but also progressive in the right di-
rection.

Public servants of experience are apt to take
a despondent view of public opinion. But the
pubUc is not intentionally unjust, and it is not
ungenerous. It is not infaUible, but naturally
prefers to judge its Government liberally. It is
ready to forgive errors of judgment; it will not
condone breaches of good faith, nor a violation
of public duty.

The year 1890 will not be a happy one in the
annals of the City Government, unless it marks a
generally-increased efficiency in our legislative

4 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

and executive departments. The opinion that the
City Government will surely be more efficient
when larger sums of money are taxed upon the
people, appropriated by the City Council, and ex-
pended by the Executive Department, is not justi-
fied. We have the means to satisfy the real
needs of the community, provided the money is
expended with the best judgment. This judg-
ment must begin in the appropriations made by
the City Council, and must be continued in
every executive branch returning to the people
a fair equivalent of what they have paid in
taxes.

However the Executive Department may be
separated from the Legislature of the City, you
shall have free access to all the acts of the
Administration in all its branches. No executive
branch will have any secrets. Should the City
Council, or either of its branches, or any mem-
ber of either, desire information upon any of the
Executive Departments, a request duly presented
to the Mayor's office will be honored in prefer-
ence to ordinary business. On the other hand,
I am bound to confess that the Departments are
not required to act upon all suggestions that
may reach them from the members of the City
Council, or even from its committees.

Of your special duties. Gentlemen of the City

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 5

Council, I entertain the highest conception. Within
the laws of the Commonwealth you are to make
the Ordinances and Kegulations by which the
people of this great City are to be governed.
In the nature of things you cannot legislate for
the sole benefit of your Ward or District; you
belong to the whole City, and your service con-
cerns the entire population. If you take a nar-
rower view of your calling, you condemn your-
selves to ineflSiciency and a corresponding loss
of popularity and power.

You will shortly be called upon to make the
annual appropriations, and it will be impossible
for any Executive Department to exceed the
amount you may have supplied. Wherever a
trial of strength has been risked between the
several branches of a government, that division
has ever triumphed which held the purse-strings.
Tour power, therefore, is very great; and your
responsibility is measured by your power.

I shall immediately submit for your informa-
tion a series of Department reports, giving an
account for the year just closed, stating the sums
available in each Department, and making certain
recommendations. I do not fully concur in these
latter, but all are entitled to your attention and
action.

The number of our Election Precincts is need-

6 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

lessly large, and may be reduced without disad-
vantage, and with a saving of expenses. The
recommendation that the number of ^Election
Officers — now twelve to every Precinct — be
reduced to eight, is founded in experience and
reason; but their number is prescribed by the
laws of the Commonwealth, and cannot properly
come before us for decision.

The Law Department alludes to a revision of
the Ordinances upon which the City Solicitor has
been engaged. I conunend his work to your
immediate attention and early adoption. The ex-
cellence of this work leads me to suggest that
you authorise the Law Department to compile,
for your own benefit and for the convenience of
the public, a complete collection of all laws re-
lating to the City, with such annotations and
additions as the Law Department may think
proper. It is desirable also that each Executive
Department publish, in pamphlet form, all Acts,
Ordinances, Kegulations, and Kules it is specially
pledged to administer. "We have had a govem-
jnent of men and committees; we should establish
a government of written law administered by
competent men in the public interest only.

The Paving and the Health Department have
done their work efficiently ; they have expended
their appropriations judiciously and with a scru-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

pulous regard for the wishes of the people.
Meanwhile the public are not satisfied, and our
streets are regarded by some persons as
ill-paved, ill-swept, and unsatisfactory. The
Administration is not charged with waste or
incompetence; the public complain that larger
smns are not appropriated and expended for pa-
ving, asphalting, macadamising, and sweeping the
streets. In other words, the public complain
that we want $2,500,000 for putting our streets
in good condition, and an additional $100,000 a
year for sweeping and general cleanliness. Yet
ever since the Act of 1885 the City has ex- '
pended every dollar it could obtain by taxes or
loans, a fair proportion being allowed to the
Paving and Health Departments, and prop-
erly expended. I recommend that the City
Council appoint special Committees to consider
the two subjects of paving and sweepmg our
streets, these Committees to report what steps
ought to be taken, beyond those taken by the
Executive, in order to give the public what is
so persistently demanded. The Superintendent
of Health asks for $80,000 to meet the public
demand, and the Superintendent of Streets sug-
gests that his Department receive $500,000 for
new work alone.

The conveyance of prisoners from the several

8 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

station-houses to the Court-House and to the
boat should be transferred, without further delay,
from the Superintendent of Health to the Board
of Police.

The Superintendent of Lamps asks for an Or-
dinance prohibiting the erection of posts in the
street within ten feet of a public lamp-post.
This reconunendation is reasonable, and should
be acted upon.

The City Engineer reports four bridges as
dangerous, among them the Berkeley-Street and
the Federal-Street bridge. This subject is very
urgent. It will be criminal to postpone action
in the premises.

The Bridge Department, the Registrars of
Voters, the Public Library, the Inspector oi
Buildings, the Superintendent of the Common,
the Commissioners of Public Institutions, and the
Armories, require a slight allowance each, and
are commended to your attention. The Board
of Police will need the ftdl appropriation, a part
of which has been transferred to other objects.
The recommendations made by the Directors of
the East-Boston Ferries should be acted upon
by the City Council. It may not be possible
to appropriate $500,000 for their purposes; but
the Ferries are in need of greater security and
efficiency.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 9

The Superintendent of Printing has clerical
power only. He should have the authority of
making all contracts for his Department; he
should control the distribution of stationery and
similar supplies; and the distribution of public
documents should be placed under his charge
after the City Council has reserved for its own
pleasure a suitable number of executive and
kindred documents.

The sewers of the City are not in a satis-
factory condition, the sums required for a rea-
sonably good system of sewerage not having
been available. The subject is important, as de-
fective sewers threaten us with an epidemic and
an even higher rate of mortality than that re-
ported by the Board of Health. This annual
rate exceeds twenty-four per thousand inhab-
itants; it should not exceed two per cent.

The fire on Thanksgiving day calls for cer^
tain changes in our building-laws. Should the
City Council grant the necessary authority, I
shall be glad to appoint a Commission for a
general enquiry into this subject together with
that of electric wires and appliances.

The City Hospital is commended to your
special attention and prudent liberality.

The City should have the authority to lay
out and establish the grade of streets through-

10 MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

out our territory. We permit private streets and
places to be built upon under conditions not
unlike those of the Church-Street and other dis-
tricts which had to be raised at a great public
expense.

The opportunity for widening Bedford Street
and, perhaps, Chauncy Street, should not be lost.
We may now do, at a moderate expense, what
later on will cost millions. The City Government
should act immediately, for the reason that build-
ing permits are about to be issued to the owners
of the estates.

Our school-houses are in need of sanitary im-
provement; and further steps remain to be taken
to establish manual training as a part of our
Public-School education. We should co-operate
with the School Committee in making our schools
the best and the most practical in the United
States.

As to the consolidation of certain administra-
tive Departments, I renew my recommendations
of last year, and desire to express general con-
currence in the able Committee report upon that
subject made by Mr. Alderman Wilson.

For the Eleventh National Census, to be taken
this year, I bespeak the hearty confidence and
co-operation of all citizens, especially business
men, and I recommend that all its data refer-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 11

ring to Boston be secured in advance, for the
earliest possible use of the City Government and
the public.

The National Encampment of the Grand Army,
which is to be held in Boston, will probably be
the largest gathering of Union Veterans ever
assembled in New England. I recommend a
liberal appropriation for this purpose, in order to
show that Boston is not only hospitable and
loyal, but ever grateful to the men who fought
for the Union. The City, the Commonwealth,
and the people ought to co-operate in making
the Encampment worthy of Boston, Massachu-
setts, and the assembled Veterans.

Elaborate financial statements will be submitted
to you from the Collector, the Auditor, the
Treasurer, and the Water Department. They
show how the revenue of the City has been ob-
tained, and how it has been expended. I regret
to say that the tax and debt limitation Act of
April 17, 1885, has not produced the result its
friends expected. Since that Act was passed, the
Commonwealth has authorised loans amounting
to 18,900,000 outside the debt limit. Within the
limit practically every dollar has been borrowed,
the result being the largest debt, both gross and
net, as well as the largest interest and sinking-
fund burden, in our whole history as a City. This

12 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

state of affairs has been inherited by the present
Administration, and is likely to continue in 1890.
The low taxes are due ip the Act of 1885, and
our large indebtedness has been increased in
strict compliance with the Special Acts, and in part
by order, of the Commonwealth. Even the most
conservative members of the City Government
have been willing, not to say anxious, to borrow
as far as the law allows.

The City Government is practically helpless in
the premises. We cannot tax the people beyond
the limit laid down by law. Yet the wants and
demands of the people beyond that limit are
imperative. My predecessor in office approved
the tax limit most emphatically, but thought
the debt limit too low. I cannot conscientiously
deviate from the views expressed in my first
inaug^al address.

For obvious reasons the taxpayers, except those
especially informed, appear to favor the very low
tax-rate of the past five years, and might view
a change with disfavor. In order to settle this
point, I trust that a paid Commission will be
authorised by the City Government to ascertain
the good and bad effects of the present laws,
both here and elsewhere, and to make such
recommendations as will be proper, and in rea-
sonable harmony with public opinion.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 33

For the Executive has to carry out the wish
of the people as expressed in the public laws. I
may state, however, that, in my opinion, a policy
of low taxes and large debts is wrong and un-
fortunate; that all our current expenses should be
paid out of current taxes; and that the Govern-
ment of Boston is confronted by the alternative
of either reducing expenses all round, the Pub-
lic Library and the Public Schools included, or a
change in our fiscal policy which means higher
taxes. In other words. Shall Boston become a
second-rate City, or shall we make it the best-
governed, the best-appointed, and the most beau-
tiful City in the United States? It is for the
people, the taxpayers, the voters to choose. It is
for the City Government to cany the vote of
the people into effect.

"While I do not approve the near-sighted policy
of low taxes and large debts, I do not hesitate to
add that this policy has not as yet worked dis-
astrously. The Assessors value the real property
owned by the City at |64,042,700. To this should
be added a vast amount of personal property, in-
cluding $22,789,195.93 in the sinking funds, and
other cash amounting to $4,400,651.82 with which
the Treasurer began the current calendar year. A
corporation with such assets need not, perhaps,
dread the net debt of |28,321,788.06 with which

14 MAYOR'S ADDBESS.

we began this year. In the past five years this
debt has increased $3,555,723.79 — an amount rep-
resented in the appropriations for the new Pub-
lic Library building, the new Court-House, and
the Harvard Bridge, none of which are as yet
in use by the people. We have expended for —

Public Parks $5,718,957 84

The New Public Library BuUding . 692,605 43

The New Court-House .... 2,473,166 97

Main Drainage Works .... 5,419,251 74

Water-Works 22,129,255 19

A total of • . . . . $36,433,237 17

These are vast snros, but we are receiving an
equivalent, or expect to receive it shortly. And
as long as the City increases, both in popula-
tion and wealth, our expenses should increase.
Even our running expenses will increase greatly
in merely maintaining the great public works
just named. Our expenses should diminish when
we are ready for a decline, when we no longer
demand the best, and when Boston is too eco-
nomical for the latest and most costly improve-
ments. God forbid that this day should dawn
while we or our children are among the living.

APPENDIX.

ARCHITECrS DEPARTMENT.

Cnr Akchitbct's Office, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thohas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sm: — The actual work doae by this Departanent during the
calendar year 1889 is as follows: —

The Boxbury High School, Warren street; Out-Patients*
Building, City Hospital, Harrison avenue ; Grammar School, H
and Fifth streets. South Boston ; Horace Mann Sdiool, Newbury
street ; Athletic Building, Charles River Park ; Biological Labora-
tory, Chestnut Hill ; Water Tank Cover, Orient Heights, Ward
1 ; Police Department Patrol Wagon House, Division 7; Police
Department Patrol Wagon House, Division 11 ; Brick Stable,
110 by 40 feet, for the Wat^ Board, Albany street; Machine
Shop, 215 by 40 feet, for the Water Board, Albany street ; Pierce
School, 12 rooms, Washington street, Waard 24; Six-room
school. Bow and Wyman streets. Ward 23 ; Four-room school,
Harold and Homestead streets. Ward 21 ; Eight-room school,
Leyden street. Ward 1 ; Ten-room school, Sumner and Lamson
streets, Ward 2 ; Eight-room school, Cumberland and St. Botolph
streets, Ward 11 ; Stable for Sewer Department at Chestnut Hill ;
Stable and Engine House at Calf Pasture, for the Sewer Depart-
ment.

The Roxbury High School on the first of June was up to
grade, and no work going on. It has been since that time so

16 APPENDIX.

far completed as to be ready for the work of the iron roof.
Part of the roof is now in position, and the contracts call for the
work on the roof to be completed by April first. The temporary
roof for this building is already in place, and the iron-work is to
be built over it ; meantime the work on the inside of the build-
ing will be pushed along through the winter months. Much
delay was occasioned on this building in the early part of the
year by the refusal of the Inspector of Buildings to approve the
plans of my predecessors, on account of violations of both Statute
Law and the City Ordinances, causing a lai^e additional expense
in fire-proofing and changing wood roof construction to iron.
Strenuous efforts will be made by this Department to complete
and turn over this building to the School Committee soon after
the next summer vacation, so that the large amount of the City's
money involved in its erection shall lie idle as short a time as
possible.

The Out-Patients' BuUding at the City Hospital has been
completed and turned over to the Trustees.

The Thomas N. Hart Grammar School, H and Fifth streets,
South Boston, has been completed and turned over to the School
Committee.

The Horace Mann School will be ready for the School Com-
mittee during the month of March, 1890. The work on this
building has been pushed as rapidly as the state of the appro-
priation would permit. The inside finish of the building is being
rapidly completed.

The Athletic Building, Charlesbank, has been completed and
turned over to the Park Commissioners.

The Biological Laboratory at Chestnut Hill has been com-
pleted and turned over to the Water Board.

The Water Tank Cover at Orient Heights, Ward 1, is about

APPENDIX. 17

completed and will be tarned over to the Water Board in a few
days.

The Police Patrol Wagon Houses in both Divisions 7 and 11
are well under way and will be completed and turned over to
the Police Department about March 20.

The Stable for the Water Board on Albany street is about
completed, and will be turned over to the Water Board in Jan-
uary, 1890.

The Machine Shop on Albany street, for the Water Board, has
been contracted for and will be pushed to completion as rapidly
as the weather of the winter months will permit.

The plans for the Pierce School on Washington street, in
Ward 24, have been approved by the School Committee, and the
work on the foundations is almost complete and ready to be
covered up.

The plans for the Schools on Bow and Wyman streets, Ward
23 ; Harold and Homestead streets. Ward 21 ; Ley den street,
Ward 1 ; Sumner and Lamson streets, Ward 2 ; Cumberland and
St. Botolph streets. Ward 11, are all in course of preparation,
some of them being nearly completed.

The plans for the Stable for the Sewer Department at Chestnut
Hill have been made and are awaiting orders from .the Super-
intendent of Sewers, as are also the plans for the Stable and
Engine house at Calf Pasture.

Some preliminary work has been done on the new Engine
Houses and Central Fire Station for the Fire Department, which
are proposed to be built the coming year.

The actual Expenses of the Department for the year, exclud-
ing the draft of January first, 1889, but including the draft of
January first, 1890, have been $18,491.50, leaving an unexpended
balance of $7,173.39, which by close economy will carry the
Department to the end of the fiscal year.

APPENDIX.

I might add that the original appropriation was $20,000. A
special appropriation was made for the Department in the early
part of the year to settle accounts which had ran over from the
year 1888. The original appropriation of $20,000 was some
$3,000 short of what was appropriated the year previoas, and
the Department has done more work, as can be seen by a glance
at the statement above, than it has for some years.

The number of persons at present employed by tJie Depart-

ment ia twenty-six.

Respectfully,

H. H. ATWOOD,

City Architect,

ASSESSMENT OF TAXES.

Assessors' Office, December 24, 1889.

To His HofnOT th£ Mayor,

Sib : — The valuation of the City as found by the Assessors as
of the first day of May, 1889, was $795,433,744. The estimated
amount of the real estate was $593,799,975, and of personal estate,
$201,633,769. The gain in valuation over that determined by the
assessment of 1888 was $30,786,700 on real, and $194,496 on per-
sonal property. The amounts of the several warrants for State,
County, and City taxes, for the current and preceding year, were
as follows : —

State

County . . .
City

1888.

$888,805 00

668,444 00

8,520,783 00

$10,028,082 00

1880.

InoreABe.

I>eereaM.

$759,518 29

788,191 00

8,578,960 00

$69,747 00
58,177 00

$74,286 71

$10,076,669 29

$58,687 29

APPENDIX.

The rate of taxation for 1888 and 1889 on each $1,000, the
proportion for the several warrants, and the average rate of taxa-
tion for the whole State, as determined by the Tax Commissioner
of the Commonwealth for the assessment of Massachusetts cor-
porations, are shown as follows : —

Bute.

County.

City.

Total.

Avermge of State.

1888..
1889..

•0.97
0.88

$0.74
0.80

$11.69
11.27

$13.40
12.90

$14.68
14.72

Of the City rate of $11.69 in 1888, $2.38 per $1,000 were re-
quired for public schools, and $9.81 per $1,000 raised the money
expended from. the tax levy for all other purposes. Of the rate
of the current year, the schools require $2.47, leaving $8.80 per
$1,000 of the total levy for other purposes. For the State tax of
the present year, two warrants were received by the Assessors.
The first was for the City's proportion of the State tax of
$2,000,000. Its amount was $738,020. The second was for the
sum of $21,498.29. It was issued by the Treasurer of the Com-
monwealth by authority of Section 7 of Chapter 384 of the Acts
of the year 1888. This chapter provides that commissioners
appointed by the Governor and Council shall acquire land in the
City of Boston and other cities of the State, '' by purchase or
otherwise," and erect thereon armories for the volunteer militia.
To meet the expense incurred, the State may issue four per cent,
certificates of debt, which are sold as the Governor and Council
shall order. To provide for the interest when due, and the
principal at maturity, a sinking-fund is established. The amount
required therefor, and the semi-annual interest on the outstanding

APPENDIX.

certificates, is charged to the City where any armory is located,

^* and assessed upon it in the apportionment and assessment of

its annual tax." ' As two lots of land have been taken in Boston,

upon one of which a building has been erected, a considerable

addition to the tax of the State may be expected in the future

from the annual requisitions made upon the City under this act.

The Wards of Boston as they now exist were established in 1875.

Their lines cannot be altered until 1895. The law requires that

our assessment districts shall be within Ward lines. Some of our

suburban Wards have grown to such an extent that it has become

impossible to do the street-work of their districts in the time that
can be given for that purpose. In 1887, Ward 24 (Dorchester),

which since 1876 had consisted of two districts, was divided into

three. The time has arrived when West Boxbury can no longer

be properly canvassed with less than three assessment districts

within the lines of Ward 23. The power to make such a change

is given to the Board of Assessors by Chapter 115 of the Acts of

1889.

The actual expenses of the Department for the year 1889
were $108,883.26. The unexpended appropriation to meet the
expenditures for the balance of the financial year amounts to
$16,707.66, and is sufiicient for that purpose.

The force employed in the Department at this season of the

year is small. At present it consists of five Assessors and nine

clerks.

Very respectfully, for the Board of Assessors,

THOMAS HILLS,

Chairman,

APPENDIX.

ASSESSORS' VALUATION.

Boston, January 1, 1890.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sir : — I herewith transmit a statement of the Assessors!

valuation for the preceding five years and of the abatements

thereon allowed previous to the thirty-first day of December

last, also the average of said valuations reduced by said

abatements : —

Aueuon* Abatomenta to

Valoatton. Dooember 81, 1889.

1886 $686,579,072 20 #8,617,800 00

1886 710,621,886 82 7,661,800 00

1887 748,164,717 41 7,468,800 00

1888 766,868,648 89 6,772,700 00

1889 796,981,448 71 6,544,900 00

Total #8,705,650,217 08 #86,965,500 00

1/688 abatement8 .... 86,965,500 00

#8,668,684,717 08
DiTided by 5 gires . . . 788,786,948 00 as the arerage of

the Asaesaors' ralitations for the past fire years.

Respectfully submitted,

JOSHUA S. DUNCKLEE,

Secretary.

AUDITOR'S DEPARTMENT.

AuprroR's Office, Crrr Hall, December 31, 1889.
HoK. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir : — In answer to your circular letter of December 23, 1889,
I TTOuld state —

22 APPENDIX.

First : The amount of drafts drawn during the year 1889 have
been as follows : —

6ea«ralDnfti. Pay-roll Drafts. SpeoUl Drafts. Total*.

Ci^ Account : 96,728,268 82 $6,509,60122 $5,549,880 99 $18,787,696 08

Coanty Account : Amount allowed and drawn for . 1,258,668 15

$20,046,264 18

Second : Total expense of tins Department for 1889 . . $24,270 85

Third : Balance of the appropriation for the year 1889-90,
January 1, 1890 6,608 08

which will be sufficient for the financial year ending April 30, 1890.

Fourth : Total number of persons employed in this Department

is twelve.

Very respectfully,

JAMES H. DODGE,

City Auditor.

The Crrr and Countt Debt.

Gross funded debt, December 81, 1888 .... $48,576,569 29
Add funded debt issued in 1889 8,784,000 00

$52,860,569 29
Deduct funded debt paid in 1889 1,174,828 20

Gross debt, December 81, 1889 $51,185,741 09

Sinking-Funds, December 81, 1888 . . $21,539,589 42
Receipts during 1889 2,414,222 44

$23,958,811 86
Payments during 1889 . . . . 1,164,615 93

$22,789,195 98
Bonds and mortgages, the payments of

which are pledged to the payment of

debt . . . . . . . 74,757 10

Total redemption means, December 81, 1889 . . . 22,863,958 08

Net debt, December 31, 1889 $28,821,788 06

■

APPENDI3(. 23

Gross debt, December 81, 1889 $51,186,741 09

Gross debt, December 81, 1888 48,576,569 29

Increase * $2,609,171 80

Net debt, December 81, 1889 $28,821,788 06

Net debt, December 81, 1888 26,850,901 99

Increase $1,470,886 07

Citj debt, including balance of debts assumed by acts

of annexation $82,424,467 11

Conniy debt 2,446,000 00

Cochitaate Water debt 15,476,278 98

Mystic Water debt 889,000 00

$51,185,741 09

At the present time tlie assumed debts remaining unpaid are, on

account of —

Cbarlestown Qty .

1 • • • •

$728,000 00,

bearing 6%

Mystic Water

$488,000 00

«%

41 l<

108,000 00

»%

U il

•

18,000 00

• 4

240,000 00

•

85,000 00

889,000 00

$1,567,000 00

West Boxbury

• • • •

50,000 00

$1,617,000 00

24 APPENDIX.

BORBOWZKO POWEB.

Statement showisg borrowing limit, December 81, 1889:

Total Debt, City and County, December 81, 1889 . . #61,185,741 00

Less Special Loans $8,650,000 00

** Cochitnate Water Debt . . . 15,478,278 98

" Mystic Water Debt . 889,000 00

<* County Debt exempt .... 1,800,000 00

21,565,278 98

•29,620,467 11
Less Sinking-Punds ^22,789, 195 98

Cochitnate Water Sinking-

Fund .... 95,285,456 87
Mystic Water Sinking-

Fund .... 754,926 05
Park Construction Sink-

ing-Fund . . . 169,077 08
Special Loans Sinking-

Fund .... 89,926 84

County Sinking-Fund . 44,420 07

6,843,805 91

16,445,890 02

913,175,077 09
Add amount of Loan Order approred by Mayor Decem-
ber 24, 1889 1,087,000 00

914,212,077 09
2 % on $711,071,286, average raluation 5 years, less abate-
ments 14,221,425 72

Bight to borrow December 81, 1889 .... $9,848 68

APPBNBIZ.

Gross Debt akd Debt Rsquxbemekts.

DeM upon

wbloh iDterMt

was paid.

Ihtbxmt

SnmHa-FunM

TXIB.

Paid from
Taxes oihor
than Wat«r.

Paid

from Water

TaxM.

Reeelpti

from Taxes

oiherthaa

Water.

Reeeipta

from

Water

Taxeo.

187»-79 ....
187»^ . . . .
1880-81 . • . .
1881-82 ....
1882-88 . . . .

1884-86 ....
1886-86 ....
18804T ....
1887-88 ....

Xboq oB ....

#42,869,816 28
42,060,126 86
40,9«0,88t 18
40,079,812 04
41,184,358 12
48,185,669 07
42,962,180 02
48,628,822 04
46,790,068 72
48,998,808 46
40,920,475 26

#1,606,754 56
1.670,147 66
1,586,540 01
1,627,144 96
1,492,877 19
1,683,972 82
1,620,900 10
1,611,413 41
1,688,974 78
1,601,699 28
1,603,862 68

$686^406 70
706^902 08
684.681 52
661,419 76
692,206 80
698,078 41
717,618 07
790,688 78
788,740 28
ni,997 96
788,117 82

#664,906 00

405,704 00
808,655 00
781,601 00
720,159 00
768,278 00
780,498 00
648,968 00
685,006 00
749^07 00
808,960 00

#218,328 32
287,706 80
227,440 20
278,894 04
28^,28126

280,260 89
186322 11
860,068 68
260,038 06
879,499 01

Loans Aitthobized bt Statute Outside of Debt Limit.

Tew.

Chap.

Objeet.

Amount
Antbortxed.

Bate of
Approval.

Amount
Issued.

1880

804

Pobllo Plffk Oonatnietlon . . .

#2,600,000

June 21,1886^

#1,500,000

1887

101

Suffolk County Ooiurt-HOQse .

> 2,500,000

Mareb21, 1887,

1,600,000

282

•

Hairard Bridge

260,000

May 18,1887,

250,000

812

PttbUe Piark Lands

400,000

May 26,1887,

400,000

804

Sewer, Ttamont street ....

76,000

June 11,1887,

428

Stony Brook Improremeiit • .

600.000

Jone 16,1887,

600,000

1888

892

Pnblio Park Lands

600,000

May 28,1888.

1880

1,000.000

Marob 1,1880.

600.000

264

W. CSMSler Park Extension .

76,000

April 12, 1880,

288

Confress street and OIItot
street Extension

600»800

April 26, 1880,

822

Improved Sewerage

800,000

May 9, 1889.

600.000

Total •

#8,900,000

#6,260,000

* In addition to tbeeost of tbelnnd.

APPENDIX.

CouNTT OP Suffolk.

Bttnning Expenses.

1881-82 $888,261 12

1882-^ . 862,908 06

1888-84 868,855 40

1884-85 880,928 70

1885-86 416,970 08

1886-67 484,618 54

1887-88 472,019 24

1888-89 522,921 68

1889-90 to December 1, inelnsiye . . . ' . . . 845,244 61

.Amount of debt issaed between May 1, 1878, and May 1,
1889, and the rate of interest: —

11,000 00 at

1 4

6 per cent.

100,000 00 "

i 1

6 "

718,000 00 **

» <

^ «

18,017,500 00 **

1 4

i "

4,864,000 00 **

t i

8J "

144,000 00 *»

> 4

Si "

2,065,000 00 "

1 <

8 "

125,000 00 "

i 4

2J "

$25,534,500 00

Amount of debt paid between May 1, 1878, and May 1,
1889, and the rate of interest: —

$520,000 00 at • . 7 per cent

90,000 00 " . . 6} "

8,860,490 60 ** . . 6 "

78,000 00 " . . 5J "

Carried fanoard^ $9,548,490 60

APPENDIX.

Brought forward^ $9,548,490 60

5,387,201 62 at .

5 per cent.

1,138,205 00 " •

. 4J »

1,628,000 00 " .

4 "

150,000 00 " .

. 8J "

154,000 00 ** .

8 "

125,000 00 " .

. ^ "

$18,070,897 22

150 00 annuity.

$18,071,047 22

Transfer of Appropriations.
The following table shows the amount of the transfers made
by order of the City Counoil daring the past fifteen years, the
amount added to the regular appropriations, and the percentage
of these additions to the total of transfers : —

Year.

1874-76
1875-76
1876-77
1877-78
1878-79
1879-80
1880-81
1881-82
1882-88
1888-84
1884-85
1885-86
1886-87
1887-88
1888-^9

Total of

Tranif era to

Tranifon.

R<»gnlar Approprlationa.

Percentage.

$420,970 02

$117,781 58

27.9

714,880 97

255,459 40

85.7

418,898 54

129,298 24

80.9

211,167 50

121,828 02

58.

171,404 82

185,484 75

71.6

842,187 07

241,597 81

70.6

270,814 85

192,174 25

71.

229,659 07

165,124 88

71.9

261,010 11

158,808 08

60.8

279,497.96

127,418 42

45.8

282,266 87

148,010 71

60.7

867,421 68

154,451 10

42.

882,552 02

256,478 75

67.

851,588 06

255,770 71

72.7

870,122 26

224,468 24

60.6

SSS8SS8S88SS8SS8

01 ee 09 e«

•flfao»a

8 3 S

*ueiios

•looqofl

fMAOldail

-■aSpfia

'-OAOjdoix
ifooja 'Corns

-vfjdojddy
ix| Xoaopyaii

tuns

S 8

*O90 'mdoh

*9aipaaiZ7r

S 3 i

'flpcraaio

•9

§ §

i 8

8 8 8

8 iS

iH • 8 8 S •

9t m mk ^ m ^ m

2 I s i I I i

8
I

• • •

S 8 S 8

do w O 00
lH 1-4 2

■• ^ ««

S 9 S

1 1 1
IS §

§ §

• •> •

2 § "

n 5 5 ? S

§ 6

II
3 I

§ I I I

• • * •*

8 5 3 3

8
§

«k

•

a
s

o
8

APPENDIX.

Loans of 1889.

Date of Order.

Dec. 81, 1887.

Jan. 8, 1889.

Feb. 16, 1880.

Mar. 18, 1889 .

Apl. 16, 1889.

June 8, 188M .

Bept. 4, 1889.
Sept. 28, 1889 .
Koy. 13, 1889.
Not. 13, 1889 .

Debt laaaed alnce Jan. 1, 1889.

Pabllc Park Conatmetlon

Mlaoellaneons

HlMeUaneona

New Library Building . .
Extension of Maine . • .

New Shope, Albany et., Ooehltnate Water-
Work*.

Improved Sewerage ....

MiBceUaneoas

Extension of Mains, etc. . .
Additional Supply of Water

Included in
Debt Limit.

-m

$709,000 00
480,000 00

Outalde of
Debt Limit.

$500,000 00

Date of Order.

The following amounts have been author-
ised but not issued :—

Dec. 81, 1887.

Mar. 18, 1889.

Not. 13, 1889 .

Not. 80, 1889 .

Deo. 24, 1889.

Public Park Construction .
New Library Building . . •
Extension of Mains, etc. . .
AddiUonai Supply of Water
Miscellaneous

600,000 00

$1,749,000 00

Included in
Debt Limit.

600,000 00
200,000 00

00,000 00
600,000 00

130,000 00
146,000 00

$3,035,000 00

Outside of
Debt Limit.

$1,037,000 00

$1,087,000 00

$1,000,000 00
600,000 00
20,000 00
900,000 00

$2,420,000 00

BRIDGE PEPARTMENT.

14 Beacon Street, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor of Boston,

Sir : — The actual work done by this Department daring the
year 1889 has been the usual and necessary repairs upon the
tide-water and inland bridges, for which the appropriation was
granted. The work has been done by day-labor. Some extraor-
dinary repairs have been done by order of the City Engineer,

APPENDIX.

for which no provision had been made, bat they were demanded
for the public safety and convenience, and for this payment I was
obliged to use money apportioned for other purposes. I con-
sidered that I was using good judgment in making said repairs.
A brief statement of the work done is as follows: —

61 roadways ware Bbeathed; 9 naw decks laid; 6 new sidewalks laid
44 new wheels pat in; 10 new headers put in; 8 new stringers put in
2 piers repaired; 4 waterways repaired; 6 fences repaired ; 6 gates repaired
1 draw-house repaired ; 2 stables repaired ; 6 tracks repaired ; 1 new paint-
shop bnilt ; repaired sheathing on 9 bridges ; repaired planking on 8 bridges ;
extensive paving repairs on 2 bridges; repaired gaards on 8 bridges;
repaired, painted, and reset 7 bnoys ; repaired engines and machinery on 4
bridges ; 19 bridges were painted two coats ; 18 buildings were painted two
coats; 5 boats were painted two coats; 2 draws were painted two coats;
and small repairs were made on varioas bridges.

The expenses of the Department have been as follows: —
January 1, 1889, to May 1, 1889 . . . $20,981 63

May 1, 1889, to January 1, 1890

74,840 81

$95,322 44
95,113 38
97,011 44

January 1, 1889, to January 1, 1890
Expenses during 1888 were
Expenses during 1887 were

In no year during its existence have the expenses of this
Department been less than $95,000.

Appropriation for 1889-90 . . • . . $90,000 00
Expended to January 1, 1890 .... 74,340 81

Balance on hand $15,659 19

This amount will not be suflQcient to carry the Department
to the end of the financial year. But if I am reimbursed in
part for the money expended for extraordinary 'repairs for

APPENDIX. 31

which I Bhoald not be held responsible, — a small amoani of

which I asked for in my communications of October 21 and

NoTcmber 8, 1889, — I shall be enabled to make snch repairs as

may be required during the winter, to continue the new

watchman at Cottage-street bridge recently built, to remove the

snow from inland bridges, to have a small amount for contin-,

gencies, and to continue my force as at present to May 1, 1890.

The total number of names on my rdOs at present is 72, divided

as follows : 52 draw -tenders, who are permanently employed ; 10

mechanics on full time, 8 mechanics on half time, a derk, and

the Superintendent.

Respectfully,

JAMES H. NUGENT,

Sttptriniendent of Bridget.

WEST BOSTON, CANAL, AND PRISON-POINT

BRIDGES.

Boston, December 27, 1889.
To His Honor the Mctyor.

Sm: — In response to Circular No. 35, of December 28,
1889, I would say that, with the exception of thorough re-
pairs to the Prison-Point Bridge draw, there has been no work
done on the bridges in charge of the Commissioners other than
their maintenance and necessary repairs.
The expenditures in 1889 have been . . . $7,572 13
Balance of appropriation 8,385 95

The unexpended balance is sufficient for all purposes to the

end of the fiscal year.

The number of employees is eight.

Respectfully,

F. W. LINCOLN,
* Commiswmer for Boston.

32 APPENDIX.

BUILDING INSPECTION,

Depabtkemt fob the Ikspectiok of Buildings,

Old State House, December 28, 1889.

Honorable Thomas N. Habt, Mayor,

Sib: — The work of the Department contLnaes to increase
year by year, and the extent of the increase of the work
of this year to December 25 only, as compared with the
entire work of last year can be seen by the following table
of permits granted: —

To December 25 1889 1889

Brick 379 881

Wood 1,844 1,554

Alterations, etc 2,202 2,095

Plumbing 4,185 8,575

Boilers and Engines 888 1,018

In the departments of egress, elevators, prosecutions, plans,
and records, the same increase has taken place.

The expense of the Department for the year 1889, in-
cluding the January draft of 1890, and excluding the Jan-
nary draft of 1889 amounts to $58,609.85.

This has been obtained not only by the strictest economy,
but by cutting off the means of transporting the officers of
the Department through and about the City in their official
work, thereby taking up the valuable time that should be
given to inspection, in going from place to place on foot.
This cut-down was necessary, that the Department might
comply with the requirements of the City Charter, and keep
within the appropriation.

Our unexpended appropriation is $12,392.88.

APPENDIX. 33

As to tho ability of the Department to continue its work
to the end of the fiscal year, I would respectfully renew
my communication of Noyember 8, 1889, in answer to Circu-
lar No. 34, and add that since that date the Department
has been called upon to incur large and what may be termed
extraordinary expenditures. The amount I am unable to state,
the bills not having as yet been presented. This amount
wiU have to be paid by a special appropriation, the De-
partment having no appropriation granted it to meet such
contingencies.

These expenses were necessitated in securing the public
against accident, by taking down unsafe walls occasioned by
the fire of November 28. .

For the greater efficiency of this Department, especially
such as may require action on the part of the Mayor, the
City Council, or the Commonwealth, I would recommend the
cooperation of the City Council with the gentlemen of the
Committee now acting on the revision of the BuUding Laws,
of which Mr. Wm. Minot, Jr., is chairman.

This able committee of citizens, representing the varied
interests, such as architects, masons, builders, and contractors,
carpenters, fire insurance agents, board of underwriters, elec-
tricians, real estate owners and agents, and civil engineers,
has received the hearty commendation of your Honor.

The Department consists of thirty persons.

Respectfully,

JOHN S. DAMRELL,

Inspector of Buildings,

34 APPENDIX.

BUILDINGS OF THE CITY.

Office of the Superintendent, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir : — In reply to Circular 35, I would respectfully submit
the following : —

The actual work of the Department for the year 1889 has
been the repairs, alterations, furnishing, equipment, and main-
tenance of the public buildings, school-houses, County buildings,
and armories of the militia.

The actual expense for this work for the same period has
been as follows : —

PubUc BaildingB $142,533 40

School Houses 276,787 75

County Builduigs 65,504 88

Armories 40,721 43

These amounts cover the period from the February draft of
1889 to that of January, 1890, inclusive.

The unexpended balances of appropriations which this De-
partment has in charge will be sufficient (provided no extraor-
dinary demands are made) to continue our work to the end of
the fiscal year, with the exception of that for armories, which
will require an additional amount of $5,000 to cover the
time specified.

The total number of persons employed in the Depai*tment,
including the Superintendent, is eleven (11).

In my judgment the number of polling places, which now
number 286, can be reduced to 200, and not inconvenience the
citizens, but materially reduce the cost in this direction. I
would also suggest the feasibility of merging all the work that

APPENDIX. 36

appertains to the use of ward rooms, registration of voters
and election expenses under one head, thereby reducing the
cost. The work as at present performed is by four different
Departments independently, thus ti*espassing upon the regular
work of those Departments, and probably not so economically
performed as it would be by one Department alone.

Respectfully,

JAMES C. TUCKER,
SuperintendeTU of Public Buildinga.

CEMETERY, MOUNT HOPE.

BosTOK, December 27, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Habt, Mayor.

Sib: — In response to Circular No. 85, the Board of Trustees of
Mount Hope Cemetery respectfully reply as follows : —

First. The work done by our Department has been the usual
work done in the Cemetery.

Second. The expenditures from January 1, 1889, to January
1, 1890, have been $27,864.80.

Tiiird. On January 1, 1889, there was on hand a balance of
$346.66 ; the City has only appropriated for the year 1889 the
sum of $5,000; there will be unexpended on January 1, 1890, a
balance of $2,826.11. The amount of expenditures was paid,
above this sum, out of the receipts of the Cemetery, and we
shall be able to complete the work to the end of the fiscal
year without further aid.

Fourth. There are now employed in carrying on the Ceme-
tery, twenty-two persons who are paid. The Board of Trustees
consists of five, who have no pay.

SAMUEL W. CREECH, Jr.,
President of Board of Trustees.

APPENDIX.

CLERK'S DEPARTMENT.

Office of the Citt Clerk, December 28, 1889.
To the Mayor.

The work of this Department may be classed under three
heads, viz. :

1. Recording mortgages of personal property, etc.

2. Recording the acts of the City Council.

3. Care and preparation of the election machinery, except
the assessment and registration of voters.

1. There have been received for record at this office from

Janaary 1, 1889, to December 25, 1889, 8,263 papers in-
cluding

Assignments of Wages • . • . 616

Married Women's Certificates •
Liens on Vessels
Fence Viewers' Certificates
Certificates of Religious Societies

271

Mortgages, Bills of Sale, etc. .

928
. 7,335

8,263

All these papers must be copied in full upon our books,
and properly indexed. The amoant of fees received for re-
cording the same are contained in the quarterly reports of
the Department.

2. The City Clerk acts as the Clerk of the Board of
Aldermen. We record the acts of the Board of Aldermen,
and prepare an index thereof. All ps^^ers and documents
presented to the City Council are properly anranged and

APPENDIX. 37

filed in this oflQoe. We make and send to the departments,
parties, or individuals affected thereby, copies of all papers
passed by the City Grovernment, seldom less than two, and
often four or even six copies being made.

We prepare the names of jurors, transmitted to us by the
Registrars of Voters, for the Jury box, and record the names
of persons drawn.

Ordinances passed by the City Grovernment are recorded
in full; also names of all streets, notices of accidents on
the highway, and certain naturalization notices when the
papers issue from Courts other than United States Courts.

We issue all amusement licenses, and receive the fees for
the same, there having been granted about 225 such licenses
from January 1, 1889, to December 25, 1889. All minors'
licenses granted by the Board of Aldermen are made out in
this office. There were granted from January 1, 1889, to
December 25, 1889, about 1,235 such licenses, divided as
follows: 917 newsboys, 167 pedlers, and 151 bootblacks. We
receive complaints under the Statute of persons assaulted by
dogs* In addition to the work above mentioned, there are
many matters of detail too numerous to mention.

3. The following is a statement of the work of the City
Clerk's office of the past season. In the latter part of the
summer and early fall, a thorough revision of a pamphlet of
about one hundred pages, of a digest of the laws in force in
relation to the Assessment and Registration of V.oters, and
the Conduct of Elections, was made and printed, with a
suitable index to the same; also a pamphlet of Instructions
to Election Officers. The so-called Australian Ballot Act was
also printed, with a carefully prepared index, and o, sample
ballot.

38 APPENDIX.

In September, the Mayor appointed 3,432 election officers,
and later, 347 more to fill vacancies. Certificates of appoint-
ment were printed, filled oat, and mailed to each of these offi-
cers, and a very large number of them were sworn at the City
Clerk's office.

The City Clerk set apart several evenings, and invited the
Ejection Officers to meet him at the City Hall, that he might
give them full instructions in relation to their duties, and
answer any questions that might be proposed by them. These
meetings were very fully attended, and apparently appreciated
by the Election Officers, many of whom were entirely ignorant
of the duties imposed upon them. A great deal of time was
also given by him, in his regular office hours, in furnishing in-
formation to these officers relative to their duties.

The division of the City into new precincts entailed the
preparation of maps of each of the new precincts, which were
prepared under the supervision of the City Surveyor. Ten
copies of the map of each precinct were posted, under the
direction of the City Clerk, in the several precincts.

When the Mayor and Aldermen designated the polling places
for the State and City elections, there was prepared, and
posted in ten places in each precinct, a printed description of
the place so designated, and also advertisement was made in the

daily and principal Sunday papers, giving a list of said places
throughout the City. When later changes were made in sev-
eral of these places, the above work, so far as it applies to
the changes, was done over again.

Nearly two hundred new cancelling ballot boxes were obtained
from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, to meet the require-
taents of the additional precincts. Many of these after each
election, owing either to imperfections in construction or care-

APPENDIX. 39

lessness on the part of Election Officers, require more or less
repairing. A large number of pasteboard boxes for transmis-
sion to the City Clerk, of the ballots cast at the polls were
also procured, and the old ones on hand were repaired.

When the Board of Aldermen direct that warrants be issued
for an election, printed warrants are prepared in this office, in
duplicate for every precinct, differing for the various wards.
One copy of each is served by constables, by posting the same
at or near every polling place ; the others, on which the con-
stables make their return of service, are sent by the City
Clerk to the Wardens at the several polling places. The
warrants give the Wardens their authority for proceeding with
the election, and specify the purposes for which it is held, and
the hours during which the polls shall be open. Record books
and seals are provided for the Clerks of the several pre-
cincts. These books contain printed forms showing the man-
ner in which the books should be kept, but sometimes this
form is apparently not looked at by those whose duty it is to
make up the record. As the City Treasurer is instructed not
to pay the several Clerks, until he receives certificates from the
City Clerk that their duties have been satisfactorily performed,
a considerable amount of labor devolves upon this office in ex-
amining the 286 record books.

The reception and filing of certificates of nomination and
nomination papers, hearings on objections to nominations, and
the preparation of the list of candidates for the ballots and for
publication and posting at City Elections, all of which duties are
imposed upon the City Clerk, are crowded into a very limited
period. The ballots for use at State elections are prepared and
furnished by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

The tally sheets for the use of the election officers, and the

40 APPENDIX.

official returns, both containing the names of all the candidates,
can only be prepared and printed after the list of candidates is
completed. The official returns the present year have con-
tained the printed names of all the candidates, thus insuring
accuracy in the names, and avoiding the necessity of notifying

the officers to call at the City Clerk-s office, and correct errors,
a matter which, in former years, has occasioned considerable

annoyance.

Envelopes for the official returns, and also for the check
lists, are made and printed especially for the purposes for
which they are used.

On the morning of each election, there is sent by a police
officer to each polling place a registering and cancelling ballot
box, containing the following list of articles: the warrant; a
package containing the ballots for use at such election, together
with specimen ballots and cards of instructions to be posted for
the information of voters ; a pasteboard box in which are to be
returned to the City Clerk, sealed, the ballots cast, with a cer-
tificate to that effect signed by the election officers; the official
return of votes cast to be filled out, signed and returned
to the City Clerk in an envelope provided for the purpose;
an envelope to contain the check lists used, to be signed,
sealed, and returned to the City Clerk ; posters quoting the law
relative to smoking and use of liquor in polling places; copies
of the Digest of the Election Laws, and instructions to election
officers ; hand stamps for marking ballots which may be either
'' defective" or "cancelled"; pens, ink, pencils for the election
officers and for the voters, sealing wax, writing paper, and
rubber strips with which the ballots may be kept in separate
bunches whUe being counted; also tacks with which to post
the cards of instructions, specimen ballots, etc.

APPENDIX. 41

In addition to these, it has been the practice for some years,
to send to each precinct a blank form, styled a press return,
prepared by the representatives of the press, to be filled out
with the votes for the several candidates, and returned to the
City Clerk for transmission to the head-quarters of the daily
papers.

The police officer has a blank receipt for the ballots to be
signed by the Warden, which is returned by the officer to the
City Clerk.

A blank requisition for a second set of ballots in case the
first. set is destroyed or stolen, is also sent to each precinct.

The check lists prepared by the Registrars of Voters are
also placed in the charge of these officers for transmission to
the polls. The police officers for duty on election day are fur-
nished by the Board of Police, upon the requisition to the City
Clerk, and comprise a large number of special officers appointed
for these days only, in addition to a large detail from the
regular force. The officers with the various articles committed
to their care, are conveyed to the several polling places in
carriages, and at night, are brought back, with the cancelling
boxes, ballots, official returns, press returns, and check liBts.
The requisitions for carriages, and all other matters in con«
nection with the same, have been attended to by the City
Messenger, to whom and those under him, the City Clerk is
indebted for this and much other valuable assistance.

The ballots and check lists, when received on nights of
elections are locked in a fire-proof room, with combination
locks, the combinations being known only to the City Clerk
and his assistant.

The day following the election, the compilation of the
election returns is commenced on forms prepared for the pur-

42 APPENDIX.

poBe, and usually completed in about three days. All this
work is carefully checked from the official returns, and all the
figures are carefully verified. After due examination by the
Board of Aldermen, and the completion, by said Board, of any
recounts legally asked for, the Board makes declaration of the
results, and the proper certificates are made and signed for
transmission by the City Clerk to the Secretary of the Com-
monwealth or to the parties declared elected, as the case may
be.

The pay-roU for services of election officers at the State
election amounts to about $10,000 ; that for the City
election, owing to increase of compensation, to about $14,300;
together with about $600 more for deputies who reported for
duty, but did not serve. Other expenses, which cannot yet
be given in detail, all the bills not yet having been received,
will increase the expenditures incurred through this office to
the aggregate sum of about $50,000.

A just criticism of the law in relation to nominations and
printing of ballots, is that the time for the preparation, print-
ing, packing and sealing is too limited. A week's time is
little enough after all the nominations are determined upon, in
which to do this work for the City of Boston.

In the opinion of the City Clerk, the number of voting pre-
cincts might well be reduced from 286 to 200, on which basis
there would be an average of only three hundred and fifty
male voters to a precinct. By such reduction in number, a
large amount of money would be saved to the City in provid-
ing polling places and fitting them for occupancy, as well as a
very considerable saving in the sum for the payment of
election officers. lie also thinks that the number of election
officers may be judiciously reduced. Four officers, of a proper

APPENDIX. 43

degree of intelligence can easily perform the duties now im-
posed upon six. By such proposed reduction in the number of
precincts and of election officers, less than half the number of
election officers now necessary, would be appointed, and a sav-
ing of about $15,000 annually might be made. Two of the
inspectors, who now act as ballot clerks, with an extra check
list, could be dispensed with. Their duties could be performed
by the other two who could have charge of the ballots, make
one kind of a check on the list when a ballot is delivered to a
voter, and another when he deposits his ballot.

Expense of this office in the calendar year 1889 : Twenty
thousand eight hundred sixty-three and -^ dollars ($20,863.74).

Unexpended appropriation for the remainder of the fiscal
year: Six thousand three hundred forty-eight and ^^^^ dollars
($6,348.80). We shall be able to complete the regular work
of the office for the year ending April 80, 1889, without
further appropriation.

JRecommendcUions : — Public Statutes, chapter 37, section 4,
enacts that City Governments shall provide fire-proof safes of
ample size for the preservation of books of record, registry,
etc., and that the City Clerk shall keep in the safe so pro-
vided all such books, etc. The safe connected with this office
is very small indeed, and contains a very small portion of the
City records. In my opinion, it is not fire-proof. The great
books of the City Records and papers are arranged on shelves
or cases about the rooms, and should the City Hall burn, the
City would lose all its records and papers contained in this
office, and the entire registry of mortgages of personal property,
etc., would also be destroyed.

I desire to say, also, that the business of the Department
has entirely outgrown its present quarters. We have scarcely

44: APPENDIX.

any room left to file away our papers and documents, and dur-
ing the months when we prepare for elections, we hardly have
room to move about. The arrangement of the offices is the
poorest possible, every person having business with the Depart-
ment (outside the registry room) is obliged to pass through
the room occupied by the clerks who do the copying. This
renders it almost impossible to do the work correctly, and as
it must be correctly done, the papers often have to be re-
written, causing a loss of time. I cannot too strongly con-
demn the present accommodations. No sane business man
would have every customer who visits his store, pass through
his bookkeeper's room, yet this is in effect what takes place
daily in this office. The office is so crowded that there is no
room for more clerks, yet there are not enough to properly do
the business of the office. The new election law has put a
great amount of labor upon us, yet we have had no additional
help, and at times, nearly every clerk in the office has been
working on election matters, to the neglect of the rest of the
City's business, and causing just complaint from parties and
individuals having business with the Department. The election
has, at the very least, put the work of the Department six
weeks behind, and when the present force can hardly keep up
the regular work, without interruption, it can easily be seen
that we shall remain behind for some time.

The office provided for the City Clerk is about 18 feet by
27 feet, and in it are the desks of the City Clerk, the assist-
ant City Clerk, and two employees, and also the type-writing
machine which is continually being worked. Here also are
received, on an average (placing it low) a hundred people a
day, who have business with the Department. Of course, this
number of people necessitates a great deal of talk, all of which

APPENDIX. 45

is plainly heard by every one in the two offices, and every one
is disturbed more or less. Nearly all the work of the last
election requiring care and thought was done after hours or at
home by the City Clerk or his assistant. I most strongly
recommend that the two offices at present occupied by the
Superintendent of Public Buildings be added to this depart-
ment, and that this be done as soon as possible.

Number of persons employed in this Department, 16 in all.

The only ways that I can suggest of reducing the expense
of elections are to reduce the number of polling places and
the number of offices for each precinct, as hereinbefore
stated. Should this be done, I doubt if the ballot boxes
recently furnished by the State would be large enough to con-
tain the ballots cast, in which event, the City might have to
purchase new boxes.

On the subject of elections, there is much that might be said
and many recommendations that might be made, that are not
included in the scope of the present report.

EDWIN U. CURTIS,

City Clerk.

COLLECTOR.

Collector's Departbient, Crrr Hall,

December 28, 1889.
To His ffonor the Mayor.

Sir: — The total receipts in this Department from January 1,
1889, to December 24, 1889, inclusive, were 915,500,161.54, from
the following accounts: —

APPENDIX.

Taxes

Cochituate Water Rates

Liquor Llceuses

Mystic Water Rates

County of Suffolk .

Sale Beacon-Hill Reservoir

East Boston Ferries

Rents

Sewer Department .

Soldiers' Relief

Public Institutions

City Hospital .

Interest .

Sale of Armory Site

Health Department .

School Instructors .

Bonds

Mt. Hope Cemetery

Betterments

Police Department .

Overseers of the Poor

Street Department .

Police Charitable Fund

Public Library

" Legacy J. Ingei

All other sources

soil Bowditch

$11,511,154 06

1,372,302 45

891,064 00

319,099 79

302,445 28

150,000 00

139,443 65

123,921 88

90,530 78

85,966 00

61,926 62

51,404 38

48,042 92

42,478 20

41,415 29

40,350 62

27,258 91

22,684 44

21,582 08

16,976 50

15,725 26

12,347 22

12,379 70

10,427 25

10,000 00

79,234 26

$15,500,161 54

APPENDIX. 47

A general anmniary of the accounts shows that
the balance of bills and assessments outstand-
ing January 1, 1889, were .... $2,675,901 78

The assessments from January 1, 1889, to De-
cember 24, 1889 13,156,248 86

Cash Deposits from January 1, 1889, to De-
cember 24, 1889 2,708,402 90

Total amount charged to Collector . . $18,540,553 54

Of this amount, the Collector is credited with

Abatements .... $391,277 43

Cash paid the City Treasurer . . 15,500,161 54

15,891,438 97

Balance uncollected $2,649,114 57

The amount expended under the appropriation, excluding the
draft of January 1, 1889, and including that of January 1, 1890,
is $60,316.29. The balance unexpended is $15,437.55, sufficient
to continue the work to the close of the fiscal year. There has
also been expended $6,290.54 on account of advertising and ex-
penses attending sale of real estate for unpaid taxes ; and there
remains in the Treasury $5,629.97 to the credit of Deeds and
Eeal Estate Advertising; on account of liquor licenses ($300
allowed by ordinance) there has been paid $57 ; and for election
expenses and charged to that account by special appropriation,
$864.

By Section 8, Chapter 81, Revised Ordinances of 1885, the
water rates of the Mystic supply are made payable at the branch
office of the Water Registrar in Charlestown. These rates should
be paid at the Collector's office in City Hall. The expense at-
tending such a change would be added to the appropriation for
the Collector's Department, and would be simply a transfer, as it

48 APPENDIX.

would lessen by so mach the amount now paid by the Water
Board on account of the Mystic supply.

The uncollected accounts annually reported by the Collector
as assets, from the 3'ear 1822 to August 9, 1875, the date of
the establishment of this Department, have been reduced to a
small amount, and are of little or no ^alue. The larger por-
tion were outlawed long before tlie Collector's office was created.
I would suggest, subject to your approval, that the City Coun-
cil consider the propriety of relieving the Collector from further
responsibility for these accounts.

For the time above mentioned they amount to about $250,000,
and there are other charges of a like nature to the year 1883,
and amounting to about 115,000, which I recommend for like
consideration.

Respectfully,

JAMES W. RICKER,
City Collector.

COMMON AND PUBLIC GROUNDS.

Office of the Superintendent,

December 27, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sm : — Owing to an early spring and the length of the warm
season, the continuous rain-storms, and the addition of newly
acquired parks, the ordinary expenses of the Department were
increased, and, with many other demands for work, I have ex-
hausted the general appropriation. The amount expended of
the general appropriation from January 1, 1889, to December
81, 1889, is $76,740.84, of which the following ai*e the chief
items : —

APPENDIX. 49

Labor and Superintendence ^4 1,565 40

Sods • . . . 4,899 80

Bed Gravel 4,224 22

Bine Gravel, Sand, etc 2,707 26

Teaming 4,163 36

Loam 2,337 39

Which amount to $59,397 48

Leaving a balance of 17,343 41

which has been expended for incidental and other work of the
Department.

Out of the above amount of $76,740.84 I have been obliged
to expend the following large amounts for extra work and nec-
essary stock for which no provision was made in the general
or special appropriations : —

Bepairs on Gravelled Walks, made necessary by unusual rain-
storms $6,481 75

Bepairs on Concrete Walks, South Boston .... 600 00

Street Trees, trimming, removing, etc. . . ■ . . 2,430 97

Finishing Franklin Square 1,143 72

Bepairing bronze railing and iron fence 163 89

Building new greenhouse 400 00

Painting fences, Concord and Butland Squares . . . 128 92
Bemoval of the Gravelled Walks around the pond in the Pub-
lic Garden, filling in with loam, sodding, planting new

shrubbery beds, labor, etc. 5,200 00

Bepairs on Plank Walks, labor, etc., for various squares 500 00

Court expenses (accident Madison Park) .... 306 10

Carriage (new) 200 00

Horse purchased, ^300; horse exchanged, $100 . . 400 00

$17,955 35
The general appropriation is now reduced to $625.73.

60 APPENDIX.

Were it not for the extra work forced upon me, I would have
a balance of at least $18,581.08 on hand, which amount
would enable me to carry on the work of the Department
properly for the remainder of the financial year. I trust the
City Government will see its way clear to reimburse this
amount to the Department. I have deemed it my duty to
suspend all the employees of the Department, with the excep-
tion of two or three persons to keep the valuable stock of
plants in the greenhouses from freezing up.

Under the Special Appropriations, Concord and Rutland
squares were thoroughly renovated at an expense of $8,770.17,
and their condition is entirely satisfactory to residents and
taxpayers.

The sum of $1,000 has been expended in furnishing a bronze
railing, renovating the lawn, making walks, grading, etc.,
around the Attucks monument.

The sum of $800 has been expended for curbing and other
improvements in City square, Charlestown.

Norris Park, South Boston, has been put in as good con-
dition as the amounts appropriated therefor at two different
times, viz. : $5,700, would permit. There is now on hand a
balance of $54.84.

The asphalt tile walk from Park square to Park street has
been satisfactorily completed, at an expense of $6,000.

On Belmont square, £ast Boston, two asphalt tile walks
have been laid at a cost of $1,300. Balance of appropriation,
$450.

The appropriation of $10,000 for Blackstone and Franklin
squares has been exhausted, . and the additional sum of
$1,143.72 has been expended from the regular appropriation.
In the spring it will be necessary to incur an outlay of about

APPENDIX. 61

93,000 more for loam in order to bring these squares up to
their proper grade.

The little squares in East Boston are in a wretched conditioh
and should be put in order.

The stone curbing around the pond in the Public Garden has
always been looked upon as objectionable, and to get rid of
it the Board of Aldermen a few years ago passed an order
appropriating $1,500 to have it displaced and the sward
brought to the water, but the Common Council failed to
concur. As the edging has become disrupted, it should be
removed and an appropriation, such as the Board of Aldermen
passed, should be made for filling its place.

The skaters on the pond in the Public Garden are not suffi-
ciently controlled by official authority. Only within a few
years has the pond been open to skating, and since then only
have I had any serious , complaint to make. I respectfully ask
your Honor to appoint a sufficient number of special officers
for the public grounds, to be placed on duty under the
Superintendent of Common and Public Grounds.

The Common, with its wealth of lawn and shade, holds its
own well as the leading health spot of the Department. Its
main avenues, however, need a different road-bed, as they are
always in a wretched condition after thaws and storms.

The removal, relaying, material, and work on the plank
walks are a large item of annual expense, and with the ad-
ditional outlay for red gravel, the walks of the Department
are very expensive. From eleven years* experience with this
particular work I am comdnced that every walk on the Com-
mon should be concreted.

The asphalt tiles laid in the walk from the Park square
entrance on the Common to West-sti'eet gate, and from there to

52 APPENDIX.

the Park-street gate, have filled a want long felt, and are
generally commended. The avenue leading from Arlington
street over the bridge on the Public Garden to Charles street,
and from Charles street by Monument Hill to the West-street
asphalt walk, is one that should be immediately placed in the
same condition, as also should the Tremont-street mall from
West street to Boylston street.

Our street trees are in a most deplorable condition.

The costly tropical plants displayed in the Public Garden and
squares during the past season have all been safely returned to
greenhouses, where they will remain until again required for the
gratification of the public. There is no public collection of
plants in this country to equal that owned by the City of Boston.

Your obedient servant,

WILLIAM DOOGUE,

SuperintejidenU

COURT-HOUSE.

Pemberton Square, January 1, 1890.
To Hia Honor the Mayor,

Sir : — In compliance with the request contained in your com-
munication of the 23d ultimo, the Commissioners for the erection
of a New Court-House for the use of the courts of the Common-
wealth within and for the County of Suffolk, and for a Registry
of Deeds and a Registry of Probate for said County, have the
honor to submit herewith a statement of the progress of the work
under their charge.

During the past municipal year, a marked advance has been
made in the completion of both the northerly building and the
main structure. The brick and stone masonry of the main build-

APPENDIX. 63

ing, with the exception of that connected with the central hall,
is nearly completed, and the interior walls are ready for the
plasterers. The plastering and stucco work of the northerly
huilding is finished, and the carpenters' work in this section is so
far advanced as to make possible its occupancy by July of the
present year.

The principal contracts made during the year include those for
the heating and ventilation, and the marble work for both build-
ings, the plastering, the carpenters' work, and the plumbing of the
northerly building, the copper roof, and the iron stairs of the main
building. The important contracts to be made during the coming
year are those for the stone work of the vestibule and main hall,
the carpenters' work, and the plastering of the main building.

The balance of the appropriation on band January 1, 1889,
was $521,937 60

The payments daring the year have been .... 496,259 57

Leaving a balance on hand of $25,678 03

The total appropriations made to this date have been . . $2,498, 845 00

The payments hare been : —

For the site, in fidl $1,056,469 69

For construction 1,416,697 28

Balance on hand 25,678 03

$2,498,846 00

The contracts made on account of the buildings and the mis-
cellaneous expenditures incurred to this date amount to . $1,814,990 59
On which there has been paid, as already stated, the sum of . 1,416,697 28

Leaying a balance due contractors for work in process of

completion of $398,293 81

To provide for payments on contracts made and to be made,
the City Council were requested in November last, under the

54 APPENDIX.

provisions of Chapter 101 of the Acts of the Legislature of
1887, to issue an additional loan of $800,000.

As required by law, the work upon the buildings is being
done by contract, the number of contractors at the present
time being fourteen.

In addition to the commissioners, there are employed an
office janitor, an engineer, and three assistants for the heating
apparatus.

Respectfully submitted,

S. B. STEBBINS,

Cliairman.

ENGINEER.

Office of Crrr Engineer, City Hall,

December 27, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.-

Sib: — In reply to Circular 85, of December 23, 1889, the
following is a summary of the work of the City Engineer's Depart-
ment for the year 1889 : —

Bridges.

The inspection of the highway bridges in the City has been
made, and the superintendence of structural repairs upon those
maintained by the City has been attended to during the year.

Leyden-street bridge, over the Boston, Revere Beach, & Lynn
R.R., on Breed's Island, was built this year. It is a substantial
iron bridge, on stone abutments, and cost $15,819.55.

Byron-street bridge, in East Boston, was built this year. It
is a wooden bridge over the Boston, Revere Beach, & Lynn R.R.,
and cost about $4,000.

APPENDIX. 55

Cottage-street bridge was bailt this year. It is a wooden foot-
bridge over flats in East Boston, is 12 feet wide, and 3,546
feet long, extending from Jeffries Point to Wood Island, and
cost about $12,000.

Bolton-street bridge, over the New York & New England R.R.
in South Boston, was built this year, and is a small wooden
bridge, costing about $850.

Neponset and Granite bridges, over the Neponset river, have
had the passage-ways for vessels widened to 36 feet, as directed
by the Commonwealth, at a cost of $7,997.41 to the City of
Boston.

It will be necessary to change four draw-bridges over the
upper part of the Charles river during the coming year, in order
to comply with the Act of the Legislature.

The following-named bridges are in a dangerous condition,
and should be rebuilt : —

Federal-street bridge, over Fort Point Channel ; Chelsea-street
bridge, over Chelsea Creek ; Ferdinand-street bridge, over B. &
A. R.R. ; Berkeley-street bridge, over B. & A. R.R.

Water- Works .

The Wan'en bridge section of 30- inch and 16-incb mains to
connect Charlestown with the Cochituate high and low service
has been laid.

A 20-inch main to connect Parker-Hill Reservoir with the
high-service system in the City proper, is nearly completed, and
a 16-inch high-service main has been laid from Parker street
to Egleston square.

The laying of the water-pipes to connect Long Island with
the City water supply shas been completed..

56 APPENDIX.

On the Ck>chituate Division 292 hydrants have been estab-
lished and 140 abandoned.

About 22.3 miles of new mains have been laid on the Cochitu-
ate Division, and 1.7 miles of old mains have been relaid. On
the Mystic Division ^ mile of new mains has been laid, and 1^
miles of old mains has been relaid.

The East-Boston Pamping-station and the East-Boston sup-
plementary high service for the supply of Breed's Island hate
been completed.

Storage Basins.

Work has been commenced on a new dam at the outlet of
Lake Cochituate. Surveys are being made of the proposed
basin on Indian Brook, and for the development of Whitehill
Fond. The Town of Framingham has practically completed its
sewerage system, and it is now in operation, although as yet but
few connections have been made with it.

The Town of Marlboro' is actively engaged in perfecting a
plan for its sewerage system and it is expected that tbey will
commence construction early the coming year.

Experimental works for filtration investigations are being
established at the Chestnut-Hill Reservoir, and it is expected
that in connection with the biological laboratory much informa-
tion will be obtained which will be of value in devising methods
for improving our water supply.

The dam at Mystic Lake has been repaired, and an independ-
ent air pump and condenser for Engines Nos. 1 and 2 at the
Mystic Pumping-station has been contracted for.

Parks.
For the Park Department plans and specifications of various
engineering structures have been prepared, and the inspec-

APPENDIX. 67

tion and superintendence of their construction has been at-
tended to.

At Charlesbank the g^'mnastic apparatus has been erecU'd.
Curbstones and paving blocks for the Parkway and Franklin
Park have been purchased.

At the Marine Park four spans have been added to the Iron
Pier, and one additional span to connect with the Pier Head
has been contracted for.

The Pier Head is now being constructed, and work is pro-
gressing under a contract for filling the portion of the Park
south of Broadway.

Improved Sewerage.

By an Act of the Legislature approved May 9, 1889, the
Hoard of Aldermen was authorized to extend the construction
of the Improved Sewerage System. The City Engineer was
directed to proceed with the necessary surveys and investi-
gations, and on September 30, 1889, he was directed to pro-
ceed with the construction of the sewers in accordance with a
plan adopted by the Board.

Contracts have been let for the construction of Sections 8
and 9 of the South Boston Intercepting Sewer, Section 3 of
tlie Dorchester Intercepting Sewer, and Section 1 of tlie
Brighton Intercepting Sewer. Work is now actively progress-
ing on these sections and they will be completed in the autumn
of 1890. Investigations and surveys are now being made for
the further extension of the Intercepting Sewers at the North
End and for the extension of the Dorchester Intercepting
Sewer to Lower Mills. The work will be put under contract dur-
ing the coming spring, so as to insure its completion in 1891.

The plan of the extension as submitted contemplates the

58 APPENDIX.

constniction of about six miles of sewers, and it is belieyed
that the completion of this extension of the Improved Sewerage
System will remedy many of the nuisances now existing.

The actual expenses of the Engineer's Department from
January 1, 1889, to January 1, 1890, are 835,610.20; of the
Improved Sewerage Extension, $18,456.45.

The unexpended appropriations for both the Engineer's De-
partment and the Improved Sewerage Extension are sufficient
to continue the work to the end of the fiscal year.

The total number of persons now employed in the Engineer's
Department is 20, and the total number on the Improved
Sewerage Extension is 18.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM JACKSON,

City Engineer,

FERRY DEPARTMENT.

Office of the Board of Directors of East Boston Ferries,

December 27, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor,

Sir: — Id compliance with your request for information, as
stated in Circular 35, the Board would respectfully report as
follows : —

1st. Only the ordinary work has been done for the year
1889.

2d. The actual expenses for the year have been as fol-
lows : —

Salaries and Wages <>126,764 22

Current Expenses 20,624 33

Fuel 31,831 68

Carried forward, $179,220 23

APPENDIX. 59

Brought forward, $179,220 28

Supplies 8,596 78

Repairs on Boats 9,780 16

Repairs on Buildings, Drops, and Piers .... 6,804 71

Incidental Expenses 555 90

Vacation for Employees 4,062 46

Tools and Fixtures 115 61

Damages, viz. : —
Paid to Cornelius Roach, order of City Council, $3,000 00
Paid to Lincoln Wharf Co., on Execution of

Court 8,544 97

Paid Claims, order of Committee on Claims . 963 50

Paid for Medical Attendance, etc. ... 18 00

12,526 47

Total $220,662 32

3d. The unexpended appropriation of $57,160.41 will meet
all of our ordinary expenses to the end of the fiscal year.

4th. The Board would respectfully but earnestly recom-
mend that attention be called to the immediate necessity of
having increased facilities for this Department, so that the
increased travel can be properly accommodated.

It is the opinion of this Board that a special appropriation
of $500,000 is the amount actually needed to make the desired
improvements, to be expended as follows : —

For Property on each side of the North Ferry . $200,000 00

For two New Ferry-boats 100,000 00

For two New Slips 60,000 00

For two New Drops and Tanks 30,000 00

For Alterations of Present Slips 20,000 00

For New Head-House on East-Boston side .... 30,000 00

For Additions to Head-House on Boston side . . 10,000 00

For Dredging 10,000 00

For Contingent Expenses 50,000 00

$500,000 00

60 APPENDIX.

Allow us to say that in twenty years the travel has in-
creased as follows : —

From 16,070 to 27,874 foot passengers, daily.
From 1,569 to 2,473 teams, daily.

The recommendations made last year, for two New Drops,
New Head-House and repairing of the Wharf on the East-
Boston side of the North Ferry, we renew this year, as they
are a necessity now, more than ever.

5th. The number of persons employed is as follows : A
Board of five Directors, without pay, and the following with
pay : I Clerk of Board, 1 Superintendent, and 1 28 Subordi-
nates.

Respectfully, for the Board,

JOHN E. LYNCH,

PresiderU.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

• Office of the Bo^bd of Fire Commissioners,

December 27, 1*^89.
To His Honor the Mayor,

Sir: — Since January 1, 1889, to date, there have been 887
alarms, besides the several alarms that called almost the entire
force of Boston and considerable outside assistance to the confla-
gration on Thanksgiving day. The loss incident to these alarms
is not yet so far adjusted that the total can bo stated with any
accuracy. Until the large fire occurred, however, the loss was
undoubtedly smaller than the average for several yeara back.

The expenditures of the Department for the twelve months,
which include the draft for January, 1890, amount to $823,257.62.
The appropriation for 1889-90 was $817,862 ; credits, $4,675.91 ;

APPENDIX. 61

total, $822,537.91. The expenditures from May 1, 1889, to
date, including the January draft were $580,998.70 ; balance,
$241,539.21. The expenditures in the Fire Alarm Department,
covering the same twelve months, were $34,893.40 ; appropriation
for 1889-90, $35,054 ; expenditures from May 1, 1889, to date,
$21,285.50, leaving a balance of $13,768.50, which will probably
cover all demands upon this branch of tbe service for the re-
mainder of the fiscal year.

Previous to the great fire of Thanksgiving day, the Commis-
sioners expected to be able to conduct their department, with the
money appropriated, up to the first day of May, 1890 ; but that
visitation, it need hardly be said, confounded all their previous
calculations, owing to losses of apparatus and unusual expendi-
ture consequent upon the extraordinary service that had to be
performed. An estimated deficiency has been submitted to the
Government of $34,500, to cover apparatus and equipment, and
$2,5' )0 for extra coal and refreshments. With that assistance
the Department should be able to finish the year, unless some
unforeseen emergency arise.

The Commissioners have made to the Citv Council some com-
prehensive recommendations with a view to greatly increasing the
efficiency of this Department, and their petitions have been met in
a very friendly spirit. These recommendations contemplate a
general strengthening of the Department in all sections of the
City, and include a central headquarters, fire-proof, and of a
capacity to accommodate the fire-alarm system and the offices of
the Commissioners and the Chief, besides several pieces of nppa-
ratus, and several other new houses and companies in various
sections of the city. The amount necessary to carry out these
improvements is estimated at $510,000, already appropriated.
This increase of companies and apparatus will of course involve

62 APPENDIX.

an increase in running expenses. With the new Department year
all the companies in East Boston, South Boston, Charlestown,
Roxburj, and parts of Dorchester should be made permanent.
The Commissioners have asked for what the Department immedi-
ately needs to perform its own proper duty ; but they also ask
your Honor and the City Council to use your authority to effect
reforms in the rules and laws regulating the width of streets, the
height and construction of buildings, and the manner of running
and maintaining all kinds of electric wires. These are problems
which the Commissioners cannot solve unaided.

The total number of persons now employed in this Department
is 695, — a less number than formerly, for the reason that several
companies have been made permanent, thus reducing the num-
ber of men on the various rolls.

The good feeling that has existed between all branches and
grades of the Department still continues ; the discipline and
morale were never better ; the drill school has been productive of
excellent results, and it will make the force more and more effi-
cient in the future. The houses of the Department were never
before in as good condition as now, and with the double com-
panies, increased service, and new and improved apparatus asked
for, the Department will be on a basis to command the confidence
of the public to a greater extent than ever before.

For the Board of Fire Commissioners,

ROBERT G. FITCH,

Chairman,

APPENDIX. 63

HEALTH BOARD.

Office of the Boabd,

12 Beacox Street, December 28, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor,
Sir: — In compliance with your request the Board of Health

respectfully submits a statement of the work performed by
the Department during the present calendar year, the facts as
to its financial condition, and such recommendations as it
deems proper for the greater efficiency of the Department.

The actual expenses of the Department for the calendar
year, excluding the draft of January 1, 1889, but including
that of January 1, 1890, have been as follows: —

Board of Health Salaries ^,000 00

Clerk Hire 9,502 18

Messenger 698 00

Inspectors of Nuisances 21,577 33

Inspector at Abattoir 1,495 53

City Physician and Assistants 4,025 00

Small-pox Hospital 2,548 41

Disinfection 6,697 54

Nuisances 6,046 11

Urinals 6,417 22

Burial Grounds 4,776 48

Contingencies 2,188 B%

Vaccination Virus 341 08

Horse and Vehicle, Board of Health 631 15

Horse and Vehicle, City Physician 991 72

Stationery 293 86

Printing 912 22

Advertising 56 90

Quarantine 16,075 07

Public Baths 16,084 31

Evergreen Cemetery 2,426 46

Total $111,685 10

64 APPENDIX.

The unexpended balance of the appropriation for the Board
of Health Department, excluding the January draft, is $16«-
602.23. Owing to unusual expenses on account of small-pox,
that item has exceeded the amount appropriated for it. An
amount not exceeding S2,500 may be required to meet the
expenses of the financial year in addition to the regular ap-
propriation.

The foregoing statement relates to the Board of Health
appropriation alone. The appropriation for the Quarantine
Department ($16,500) ; that for the Bathing Department
($16,000) ; and that for the Evergreen Cemetery ($1,500)
will in each case be ample to meet the expenses in these
several departments.

The health of the City, as indicated by the statement of
mortality for the year, has suflfered no deterioration. The
total number of deaths for the year 1889 (estimating the mor-
tality of the next three days) is 10,146, as compared with
10,197 in 1888, making the annual death-rate for each one
thousand inhabitants (estimating the population of the city
at 420,000) 24.15 against 24.57 for the previous year. Of
the total number of deaths, 19.56 per cent, were from causes
which arc classed as preventable, the most prevalent of these
being diphtheria, which accounts for 556 deaths ; cholera in-
fantum, 451 deaths; and typhoid fever, 183 deaths. There
were 1,414 deaths froti consumption; 856 from pneumonia;
435 from bronchitis ; and 767 from heart disease. The deaths
of children under five years of age were 35.58 per cent, of
the total mortality.

There has been no epidemic in the City during the year,
excepting the present one of influenza which, although not
fatal in its character by itself, is nevertheless serious in the

APPENDIX. 65

amount of sickness and disabUitj which it is occasioning. It
is not a disease which can be reached or controlled by public
health authorities.

8mall-pox, from which the City had been exempt for a long
period, reappeared here in October under the most unfavor*
able circumstances. The ten cases discovered were in crowded
tenement-houses, where a large number of people were ex-
posed to the contagium. By prompt attention, however, the
disease was prevented from spreading, and it has been wholly
suppressed.

During the year the Board of Health, at the request of the
City Council, made a special examination of the 181 school-
houses of the City with special reference to their facilities for
ventilation, and their condition in this and other respects was
fully set forth in a report to the Honorable City Council. The
recommendations therein made ought to receive the early atten-
tion of the City Grovernment.

The rapidly-increasing work of the Department calls for a
larger number of inspectors than the Board now has at its com-
mand, and in order to meet the demands made upon it the
Board will ask for such an additional appropriation for the
next financial year as wQl enable it to prosecute its work more
effectively.

With the cooperation of other Departments the Board will
also ask for such change in the law as will enable the City to
secure a better sanitary condition of the private i)assageways
throughout the City, which now receive such attention only as
each abutter gives them.

The Board renews its recommendations that hospital accom-
modations be provided for the treatment of contagious diseases,
and the isolation of infected persons, such accommodations to

66 APPENDIX.

be under the Bole charge of this Board. It is only by such
accommodations that the spread of these diseases can be pre-
vented, and the excessive mortality from them reduced.

The total number of persons now employed in this Depart-
ment is as follows: —

Board of Health roll 45

Public Baths : —

In winter monthB 8

Quarantine 12

Eyergreen Cemetery :

In winter months 1

Total . . ; 60

Following is a summary of the work performed by the Depart-
ment during the year: —

The number of ifispections of houses and the places where
nuisances have been complained of, is 12,853, the most of which
have required more than three visits.

The number of tenement houses examined several times each
is 6,982.

The number of school-houses examined is 181, and of this
number 163 were measured and especially examined and re-
ported to the City Council.

The number of ungrounded complaints against private prem-
ises, 901.

The number of courts, lanes, yards, vaults and cellars and
houses disinfected is 90,122.

The number of dwellings found to be unfit for habitation and
ordered to be vacated after many unsuccessful efforts to obtain a
remedy is 128.

APPENDIX. 67

Of the 21 pablic urinals the ordinary repairs have been supple-
mented this season by the repainting of ten.

The care of the 17 cemeteries has been considerably extended
by the removal of superfluous trees and shrubbery, and a more
scrupulous cleaning up of the grounds.

The number of death certificates examined and burial permits
given after such examinations from January 1, to December 27,
is 10,009.

The number of permits given for the removal of bodies from
our cemeteries is 828.

The number of fish pedlers' carts and the carts of grease col-
lectors examined monthly with respect to their cleanliness and
for the renewal of their licenses w.hich are granted for one month
at a time is 940.

The number of petitions received for the occupancy of stables
is 230, of which number 33 were granted leave to withdraw.
At the request of remonstrants hearings were had in 62 cases.

The matter of paving, repairing and other work in alleyways
and on vacant lots has required a large number of hearings.

The number of cases of contagious diseases investigated by the
City physicians is 2,000; the number vaccinated free of charge
2,501 ; medical visits in the county jail 1,500; medical examina-
tions of candidates for Police and Fire Departments 345 ; medi-
cal visits at the Chardon-street Home 80.

An examination into the cause of death, where no physician
was in attendance, was made in 530 cases.

The number of cases of contagious diseases among domestic
animals investigated at the Abattoir, such as glanders and
hydrophobia, is 9.

The Lying-in-Hospitals and Baby farms, 20 in number, have
been licensed and inspected, as usual.

68 APPENDIX.

The Public BaUi-houses, 17 in namber, were placed in use in
June ; UBed by 780,744 persons ; and towed to winter quarters
for repairs in October. One new house is now under construc-
tion.

The total number of vessels inspected in Quarantine is ^1 ;
the number requiring disinfection, 12 ; the number of immi-
grants vaccinated, 315 ; number of persons removed from vessels
to the hospital, 9.

The hospitals at Gallop's Island have been painted and
repaired.

The number of cattle inspected at the Abattoir is 49,657;

Calves, 20,955; Sheep, 398,808. Meat inspected: Beef, 30,935

lbs.; Veal, 21,027 lbs.; Mutton, 368,537 lbs. Seized: Beef,

670 lbs. ; Beef livers, 188. This inspection, which has been

going on for 12 years, has until October 1st, 1889, been done by

officers not scientifically trained for the work ; but on October

Ist, we instituted a more careful inspection of the animals and

meat by a graduated veterinary surgeon whose vigilance and

scientific work will prove of much value in detecting unhealthy

meat.

Very respectfully,

The Board of Health,

SAMUEL H. DURGm, Ckairman.

HEALTH AND STREET CLEANING.

Office of the Scpebimtekdemt of Health,

12 Beacon Street, December 28, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sib : — In compliance with your request of the 23d Inst. I
respectfully submit the following statement: —

APPENDIX. 69

The work of the Health Department has been of the usual
routine nature. There have been collected during the past
year 227,825 loads of ashes, 70,476 loads of dirt, and 40,183
loads of offal.

In the Rozburj, West Rozbury, Dorchester, and South
Boston districts the collection of ashes and garbage should be
done with more regularity. To do this work properly, ad-
ditional men and teams are needed. In the South district ^
there should be added 6 offal teams and 12 men, 10 ash teams
and 20 men'; at the West district, 2 ash teams and 4 men,

4 street-cleaning teams and 8 men; in the Rosbury district,

5 ash teams and 10 men, 4 offal teams and 8 men.

The cost of the additional horses, harnesses, feeding, shoeing

horses, and labor, would be about $52,000.

iStreet Cleaning. — More work has been done than ever be-
fore during the past year, but the result has not been satis-
factory. The streets cannot be kept in a cleanly condition
tintil a stop is put to the horse railroads distributing gravel on
their tracks; the sweeping of debris from stores into the
streets; and the distributing of advertising cards, handbills,
and posters. These advertisements are handed to passers-by
and by them thrown into the street; the result is a litter of
paper in the street.

An additional street-cleaning gang could be used to advan-
tage. There is a call for more service of this kind in portions
of the City. The gang necessary for this work should be
2 sweeping-machines, 1 water-cart, 7 carts, and 35 men. This
would cost about $28,000.

This Department owns three teams which are employed in
the conveyance of prisoners from the several station-houses to
the Court-House and the boat. The teams should be under the

70 APPENDIX.

charge of the Board of Police. I would suggest that they be
transferred to said Board.

It is necessary that another Barney Dumping Barge should
be purchased or leased, and additional wharf accommodation
secured at once, as the dumping-grounds used by this Depart-
ment are nearly filled.

A new offal depot is needed ; the one in Bozbury, adjoining
the Marcella-street Home, has become a nuisance to the
neighborhood. The depot on Albany street we have outgrown.
A new depot could be built on land owned by the City away
from dwelling-houses, which would be convenient to both Box-
bury and City teams'.

The total number of persons employed in this Department is
576.

The actual expense of this Department for the year ending
January 1, 1890, is $486,828.18.

Amount of appropriation 1889-90 . . . $500,000 00
Amount expended to January 1, 1890 . . 334,275 82

Balance of appropriation .... $165,724 18
The balance of the appropriation will be sufficient to do the
work of the Department to the end of the fiscal year.

Bespectfully,

GEOBGE W. FORRISTALL,

Superintendent of Health.

HOSPITAL.

Cttt Hospital, December 27, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sib : — In accordance with your request of the 23d inst., I have
the honor to present the following brief statement of the work and

APPENDIX. 71

expenditures of this Department daring the past year, from
January Ist to date: —

There have been treated in the wards 6,308 patients, as against
5,800 for the corresponding period of last year. The number of
accidents have been 2,148, as against 1,770 for the previous year.
The number of deaths have been 784, as against 776 during 1888.

The general character of our work has been, of course, the
same as that in previous years, and there has been no special
feature worthy of mention in this connection, except that the
number of accidents and typhoid fever patients has been much
lai^er than usual, and the contagious diseases, especially scarlet
fever, have been very much less.

The increasing demand upon the Hospital for treatment of
larger numbers of patients each year, without a corresponding
increase in the number of beds, renders it necessary that a selec*
tion of cases should be made ; and in giving the benefits of tibe
Hospital to those admitted, it must necessarily follow that privi-
leges are given to those who need it in the greatest degree, that
is to say, those who are the most ill. This renders the character
of the service more active, more acute, more expensive, and ulti-
mately requires more money to care for the same number of
patients than it would in some previous years where larger num-
bers of patients have not been so ill, and did not require so much
labor and care.

There has been expended, during the present calendar year to
date, $213,958.64. The appropriation for the present fiscal year,
together with interest on trust funds, amounts to $230,510.42.
There has been expended, during the present fiscal year to date,
S156,309. The balance will be ample to carry us through the
present year.
During the past year, the new building for the Out-patient

72 APPENDIX.

DepartmeDt, which will also be used as a new entrance office
to the Hospital, has been completed. The appropriation for
famishing came so late in the year, and as the f umitare neces-
sary for such a peculiar building had to be made to special
order, the building is not yet occupied. I am happy to sa}-,
however, that everything is now nearly ready, and we shall
undoubtedly occupy it within two weeks. The appropriation for
this purpose was $8,950. There has been expended $3,311.85,
leaving a balance of $5,638.65, which will be enough to furnish
the building ready for use.

It is confidently expected that this building will be superior to
any other in this City, for the purposes for which it is intended,
and wQl prove of great value and use in the relief of such of
the sick poor as are not ill enough to be received into the
Hospital.

Most out-patient departments connected with general hospitals
in other large cities, are used as ^'feeders" for the hospital
wards, and are largely maintained with a view to furnishing
'< material" for the clinical instruction of medical students. It
has been our fixed policy here to use our Out-patient Department
as a relief to the wards, and to avoid, if possible, the admission
of such patients, thus obviating the boarding and nursing. It is
confidently expected that the arrangements about to be estab-
lished will enable us to treat a larger number of patients than

heretofore, with more beneficent results, and with greater relief
to the public.

We have continued our usual policy of renovating and purify-
ing the Hospital wards and various departments during the past
year. It is impossible to keep a house, habitually devoted to the
care of the sick, in good sanitary condition, without pursuing

APPENDIX. 73

this fixed policy. While it is expensive at the time, it is an-
doabtedly economy in the end.

As to the needs of the Hospital prospectively, I beg to
suggest the following, which, in the main, have either been
formally asked for, or have been referred to in print: —

First: An electric light plant, for the purpose of lighting
the Hospital by electricity. The arguments in favor of this
have been presented both in the annual report of the Trus-
tees and Superintendent, and in the annual estimates for this
year the Trustees asked for $27,000 for the purpose of
building such a plant. Our gas bUls this year will amount
to nearly $7,000. Every means has been attempted, that is
possible, to reduce the consumption of gas, but the entire
establishment must bum, during every night of the year, a
certain amount of gas; and a large amount of night work,
both in emergencies and in the regular routine, renders it im-
possible to avoid the use of a large amount of gas. It can
be readily shown that the money expended and paid to the
gas companies for three or four years' consumption, would
amount to more than the first cost of a sumptuous electric
plant. The avoidance of dangers from fire, the quality of
light, the greater healthfulness of electric light over gas light,
and the annual cost of maintenance, are all in favor of elec-
tricity. Nearly all hospitals of any si^e are now using
electricity, both in our own City, and in other cities.

Second: The Annex to the central building. In the esti-
mates furnished by the Trustees for the present fiscal year,
there was included a request for $18,000 for the purpose of
creating additional room for Hospital purposes, — a dining-
room for Officers and House Staff, a medical library, library
for patients, consulting-room for the Medical and Surgical

74 APPENDIX.

Staff, and sundry other purposes. The Hospital has lately
received legacies for the promotion and increase of the medical
library. It also has a fund for a medical library for
patients ; but there is no suitable room, owing to the crowded
condition of the Hospital, in which to place such a library.
The Administration building has outgrown its capacity, and
some relief must very soon be had. Such a building as has
been proposed by the Trustees would accomplish all these
purposes, and give us very great relief. If public benefactors
liberally bestow upon the Hospital funds for such purposes,
it would certainly seem reasonable that the City should pro-
vide accommodations to carry out the wishes of the donors.
Third: The acquisition of additional land for Hospital pur-
poses. The Trustees, on December 16th, presented a memorial
to the City Council in regard to taking possession of lands
between East Springfield street and East Chester park, lying
between Albany street and Harrison avenue. The City has the
right, under a special act of the Legislature of 1889, to take such
land. It could never be acquired at a more reasonable prioe than
at the present time. Land must inevitably be had, not only for
present, but for the future wants of the Hospital, not many years
hence. The growth of the Hospital is evidently in the direction
of this land, and every argument seems to point in the direction
of acquiring this land.

Fourth: A Home for Convalescent Patients. On September
12th an Order was passed by the City Council, which was referred
to the Committee on the City Hospital, directing them to report,
— ^^ first, on the expediency of establlsMng, in connection with
the City Hospital, a Home for convalescent patients ; and second,
to recommend a suitable site." It is obvious that a Convalescent
Home is desirable. Such Homes now exist in connection with

APPENDIX. 75

other hospitals of this City, and althoagh not so common in this
oonntry as in Earope, exist in considerable nambers. It is im-
possible, except at considerable length, to foUy show the difficul-
ties incident to the care of convalescent cases, after partial
recovery from acute disease or injury. The demand upon the
Hospital for acute oases and accidents has become so great that
the alternative now exists either to refuse the admission of such
needy cases, or to push patients partly cured or recovered, out of
the Hospital. There are very large numbers of patients who are
willing and ready to resume work when able, but are without
suitable home accommodations, — such as mechanics, workmen,
salesmen, domestics, and the like, who barely have money enough
for more than one or two weeks* support. The City has no place
to provide for such cases, other than to treat them as paupers,
and send them to Rainsford's Island. If a suitable place existed,
where such patients could go and stay from one to three weeks,
away from the atmosphere of the sick-ward, where they would
enjoy good air, good food, and recuperate, on leaving the Con-
valescent Home, they could immediately resume their work.

The Trustees, or myself, have visited about twenty locations
within the City limits, and have spared no pains and trouble to
find a suitable site. The Trustees now, however, are prepared to
recommend the purchase of an estate in Dorchester, near Milton
Lower Mills. The estate is at present the property of Asaph
Churchill. It is on the eastern side of Dorchester avenue, and is
an irregular shaped piece of 653,400 feet, running eastward, nearly
to the Shawmut branch of the O. C. B.R. The estate already has
a three-storied house, occupied by the present owner, which cost
$20,000. There are also bams, and other out-buildings. Part of
the estate is improved, and part is woodland. It possesses many
points desirable for the location of a Convalescent Home. It is

76 APPENDIX.

retired, is sighUj, is near City water and sewerage, has good
views, and is so located that a Convalescent Home could be bailt
upon it. at the present time, leaving sufficient land, where, in the
future, if thought desirable, a Home for Incurables might also be
buUt. This land has been bonded for a limited time, is assessed
for $20,000, and the price asked by the owner is $30,000.
This, in the judgment of the Trustees and experts who are
familiar with the prices of suitable locations, seems to be not
only reasonable, but very cheap. It is so situated that patients
could get into the horse oars at the Hospital door and go directly
to the entrance to these grounds.

Fifth : A new stable has been recommended for six consecu-
tive years, and the demand is more urgent now than in any pre-
ceding year. Our accommodations for both man and beast
are wretched ; and while other Departments of the City have
asked for and obtained suitable stable accommodations, our
necessities yet remain.

I have the honor to be,

Your obedient servant,

G. H. M. ROWE,

SuperitUendewt and Beddenl Physician.

INSTITUTIONS OF CHARITY AND CORRECTION.

Office of the Commissioners,

14 Beacon Street, December 28, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sir : — In compliance with Circular 35 I have the honor
to present the following information and recommendations.

APPENDIX, 77

Deebt-Islakd Institutions.

There have been no extensive repairs made at the Island
daring the year.

Ten hundred and twenty-four persons who had been com-
mitted for the first time for drunkenness, were pardoned after
serving ten days each, and but 68 of that number were re-
committed.

The number of inmates remaining at the House of Industry
this day is 1,149.

The number of truants has increased, the number remain-
ing being 89, an increase of nearly 50 per cent. The same
is true of the House of Reformation. The number remain-
ing this day is 89, an increase of nearly 50 per cent, over
last year at the same time. The income, especially in the
Stone Department, has increased.

Home for Paupebs.

The male paupers were transferred from Rainsford to Long
Island, and the female paupers from Long Island to Rains-
ford, on November 7th.

The expense incurred in preparing the buildings at Rains-
ford, for the reception of the females, was considerable,
principally for new plumbing, steam-heating apparatus, and
for the renovation of the hospital building, as well as for
new drains. This expenditure was paid from the regular
appropriation.

Forty-seven (47) inmates were found at this Institution
who had no legal settlement in Boston, and had been sup-
ported by the City for various periods. They were trans-
ferred to other places where they belonged, or, where no

78 APPENDIX-

settlement was established, to the care of the State, thereby
relieving the City from their farther support.

The number of inmates remaining is 842: Men, 378;
women, 464.

Cochituate water was introduced at Long Island on August
22, and although the expense to the Institution will be
large, its convenience and safety will be enhanced.

The transfer of male paupers to Long Island will furnish
labor for such inmates as are able to work, and increase the
product of the farm, which comprises nearly 200 acres.

House of Cobrbction.

At this Institution somewhat extensive repairs have * been
made, including new chimneys, new roof, and overhauling
the drains.

An increase of income will be shown in the report of the
year, although the remuneration for labor has been much ob-
structed by recent legislation.

The average number of inmates for the year is 545 com-
pared with 533 for 1888.

LCNATIC HOSPFTAL.

To this Institution, that one formerly known as ** Retreat
for Insane " has been added. They are now under one
Superintendent. The transfer of authority was made on
August 31.

Twenty-six patients, whose legal settlements were in other
cities and towns, or who were State charges, many of whom
had been supported by the City for years at one or the
other of the above Institutions, have been discharged, and

APPENDIX. 79

committed to State Hospitals after medical examination.
Number remaining, 307. Of these 127 were at the ''Retreat.'*

Mabcella-Street Home.

A new water main was laid and a few other necessary
repairs were made here.

An examination of the histories of the inmates is now
being made, with a view to make proper disposition of those
who have no legal claim for support by the City.

The number of inmates remaining this day is 384.

Almshouse at Charleotowk.

Few changes are to be noted at this Institution, such re-
pairs only as were necessary for the comfort of the inmates
having been made.

Six (6) inmates without legal settlement in Boston were
found, and sent to the State Almshouse.

Steameb '' J. Putnam Bbadlee."

The steamer is in good condition, and is performing daily
service.

Paufeb Expenses.

The Board is paying the Commonwealth for the support
of nearly 700 insane persons belonging to Boston who are
at the various State Hospitals or boarded out in families.

Expenditures.

The expenditures for the Institutions, the Steamer, Paupers,
and Office work, beginning with the February draft of 1889,
and including the draft for January, 1890, are as follows: —

80 APPENDIX,

House of Industry #162,099 89

LunaUc Hospital 53,564 48

Marcella-street Home 49,073 08

Retreat for Insane 30,824 61

Home for Paupers 70,974 77

Almshouse, Charlestown 16,877 14

House of Correction 97,661 67

Pauper Expenses 158,889 64

Steamer Expenses 20,519 90

Office Expenses , 15,860 98

$670,286 06

Unexpendbd Balances.

House of Industry $9,955 99

Lunatic Hospital 18,808 60

Marcella-street Home 18,144 49

Retreat for Insane 10,850 71

Home for Paupers 20,764 58

Almskouse, Charlestown 8,857 14

House of Correction 25,844 98

Pauper Expenses 22,786 87

Steamer Expenses 1,412 91

Office Expenses 5,526 79

Total $181,902 41

There will be required additional appropriations, as follows : —

For House of Industry $10,000 00

For Pauper expenses 15,000 00

$25,000 00

The above amounts, with the transfers of unexpended balances
from other Institutions under our charge, to the appropriation
for the House of Industry, in the judgment of the Board will
be sufBcient for the remainder of the present fiscal year.

The Commonwealth presented a bill against the City for the

APPENDIX, 81

care of insane persons, amounting to $24,717.59, which accumu-
lated from May, 1884, to October, 1888 ; provision should be
made for its payment at an early day. A request was made
for the amount by our predecessors, but the City Council failed
to make the appropriation therefor.

The Board would recommend an amendment to Chapter 22, Acts
of 1886, by which those now in the House of Reformation may
also be removed from association with adult criminals, and pro*
vided for, if deemed expedient, in a separate building, but in
the same enclosure as the truants, to be cared for under the
general supervision of one superintendent.

A new Hospital is imperatively needed on Long or Rainsf ord
Island. The number of cases requiring hospital treatment now
number 150, and the present accommodations are not sufficient.

The necessity of a new Lunatic Hospital has been made a
matter of recommendation by our predecessors for more than
twenty years. This Board is now preparing a reply to a re-
quest of the City Couucil '^to give an opinion on the needs of
a new Hospital," which will be forwarded without delay.

The Board recommends that a sewer be built from the build-
ings at the Retreat for the Insane, to connect with the main
sewer.

If the House of Correction is to remain in its present loca-
tion, it is recommended that a new wing be built, and a
separate building be erected to contain cells for noisy and
refractory prisoners, as the present solitaires are poorly located,
and insufficient in number and size.

The number of persons employed in this Department is 293.

Respectfully submitted.

For the Board,
THOMAS L. JENKS,

Chairman,

82 APPENDIX.

LAMP DEPARTMENT.

Officb of the Superintekdekt,

December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir: — The year 1889 has been one of great activity in the
Lamp Department. There have been located the past year 94
electric lights, making a total of 798 now in use.

A very large number of gas lamps has been discontinued in
consequence of the location of the electric lights during the year.
Some have been transferred to the rapidly growing wards of the
city. Yet the total number of gas lamps is 9,874, against
10,104 a year ago, or 230 less than a year ago.

A very large number of oil lamps have been located in the
suburban districts, and a large number of those previously exist-
ing have been changed from oil to gas, so that the total number
is now about the same as a year ago.

That a very large amount of work has been done in the loca-
tion of new lamps may be judged by the fact that the amount
expended for underground work, such as laying pipe and setting
posts, is 97,491.97, the largest since 1877.

The expenditures of the Department for the calendar year
have been $593,499.17, as against $548,714.53 in 1888.

The appropriation for the fiscal year, which ends on

the 30th of April next, is ... . $593,081 00
Amount expended 418,735 40

Balance unexpended $174,345 60

The amount expended in 1889, from January to April 30, was

APPENDIX. 83

$175,062.83. The balance of the appropriation will be sufficient
to meet the anticipated expenditures for the remainder of the
year, notwithstanding the largely increased number of electric:
lights now existing.

I would respectfully suggest, that if a statute law could be
enacted, making a crime, with a suitable penalty attached, o£i
the malicious breaking of the public lamps, it would have a good*
effect in all Cities and Towns of the Commonwealth.

An ordinance providing that no posts shall be erected in the-
streets within 10 feet of any public lamp post, would prevent'
many obstructions to the lighting of the streets.

Ordinances substantially of this character are in- existence in
New York.

The number of persons employed in this Department at the
present time is 161, viz. : —

Superintendent 1

Clerks 2

Drivers 3

Repairers 3

Hostler 1

Lamplighters 151

161
Respectfully submitted,

GEORGE H. ALLEN,
Superintendent of Lamps.

84 APPENDIX.

LAW DEPARTMENT.

Office of the Corporation Counsel, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir : — In reply to Circular No. 35, I have the honor to
report that : —

1. The actual work of the Law Department during the year
1889 has been its usual and regular work, much increased, how-
ever, in several directions, especially in matters and questions
under the Ballot Act, and in matters connected with the Charles-
river bridges ; and also in the work (by order of the City
Council) of revising the Ordinances of the City.

2. The actual expenses were $27,399.45.

3. The unexpended balance, $7,700, is expected to be suffi-
cient for the remainder of the financial year.

4. We have no special recommendations to submit.

5. The total number employed (including a messenger) is

nine.

Respectfully submitted,

JAMES B. RICHARDSON,

Corporation Counsel.

LIBRARY.

Public Libraut, December 28, 1889.
To His Honor Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir: — The Trustees of the Public Library of the City of
Boston have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Circular
No. 35 from your office, dated the 23d of December, and in
reply, to report as follows:

There were added to the Library during the eleven months

APPENDIX. 85

ending December iBt, 21,817 Tolames, making the whole number
of Tolumes, exclusive of unbound books and pamphlets in the
Library on that date, 526,727.

There were loaned from the Library during the eleven months
ending December 1st, 972,238 volumes, or 50,167 more than
during the same period last year. During the same time there
were loaned for use in the reading rooms 562,586 periodicals, an
increase of 45,642 in eleven months.

The number of books bound during the eleven months ending
December 1st, was 26,234. The number of volumes catalogued
during the same period was about 80,000. During eleven months
15,203 persons have been registered and received cards entitling
them to draw books from the Library for home use. The
whole number of persona registered is 68,308.

On the 11th of March a new delivery station was opened at
Allston, so that there are now eight branch libraries and eight
delivery stations. Three of the delivery stations have reading
rooms attached to them.

The Library force has not been increased during the year, and
it consists at present of 158 persons, including the five Trustees
who serve without compensation.

On December 16 Bates Hall was opened in the evening for the
first time in the history of the Library. The attendance has
been satisfactory, and indicates that the opening of the Hall in
the evening was a wise measure, which will prove a public
benefit.

The amount expended for the Library for twelve months,
excluding the draft of January 1, 1889, and including that of
January 1, 1890, was $149,527.96. The unexpended appropria-
tion is $34,888. The work of the Library for the remainder
of the fiscal year cannot be properly and efficiently performed

86 APPENDIX.

with the present available appropriation. The Library has in-
creased in size and use so rapidly that the sum which some years
since would have been ample for all purposes, is now utterly
inadequate. At the beginning of the financial year the Trustees
•0cA)mitted to the City Government a careful and economical
estimate of the sum of money needed for the year. Owing to
the exigencies of the City finances the sum appropriated was
120,000 less than this estimate, which time has shown was under,
rather than above, the amount needed. The Trustees are there*
fore obliged to ask for an additional appropriation of $25,000
for current expenses, in order to enable them to carry on the
work of the Library efficiently and properly during the remainder
of the finapcial year. A considerable part of the increase re-
quired over the estimate is due to the sum which, in light of
late events, the Trustees consider of absolute necessity to expend
in order to guard the priceless treasures of the Library against
danger from fire. The other main items for which there is urgent
need of an additional appropriation are, briefly, the purchase of
books, lighting, binding, transportation, printing the Bulletin and
catalogues, preparing maps, and providing conveniences for using
^em properly, extra service to catalogue and locate the books
received and bound during the year.

The Trustees desire to call the attention of your Honor to the
sale at auction, on the Sd of February next, in New York, of
the most important collection of books relating to American
history ever yet sold. This library was collected by the late
Samuel L. M. Barlow and has a world-wide reputation.

The basis of the collection was formed by the late Colonel
Aspinwall, of Boston, who was consul at London from 1816 to
1854, where he had unequalled opportunities for obtaining rare
books relating to America. After Mr. Barlow became owner of

APPENDIX. 87

Colonel Aspinwall's colleotlon some years since, he applied his
ample income to its enlargement and completion, and the disper-
sion of several old libraries in England afforded him facilities
not enjoyed by Colonel Aspinwall.

The catalogue contains 1,784 titles of books and manuscripts,
a large number of which are not found in the Public Library,
but which are highly necessary to enable it to maintain its rank
among the great libraries of the world and to meet the just
demands of the people of Boston, and to add to the attractions
of the Library. Any account of the Barlow Library, save the
most general, would be out of place here. It is perhaps sufficient
to say that it covers the whole field of American history from
Columbus to the present day, and could it be placed in the Public
Library beside the Barton Collection of Shakspeariana, the
Ticknor Collection of Spanish literature, the Quincy and Everett
collections of Congressional Documents, and the Bowditch Collec-
tion of Mathematics, it would not only add to its symmetry but
to its use and prestige.

An opportunity to purchase such books is not likely soon, if
ever, to occur again. It would therefore be a breach of duty on
the part of the Trustees if they did not lay the matter before
your Honor, and respectfully advise and urge that suitable and
special appropriation be made to enable them to secure such part
of the Barlow Library as is necessary for the purposes before
mentioned.

The New Librabt Building.

Work on the new Library building, which was suspended on
the 25th of December, 1888, was resumed on the 15th of March
last, and since that time has proceeded satisfactorily. The walls
have now reached the level of the Bates-Hall windows. Contracts

88 APPENDIX.

have been made for substantially all the stone and brick work,
which is to be completed by the 1st of January, 1891, when the
Trustees hope that the building will be roofed in.

The amount expended upon the new Library buQding during
the past year (excluding the draft of January 1, 1889, and in-
cluding that of January 1, 1890) was $311,839.24; the amount
previously expended was $95,696.08 ; making a total expenditure
to January 1, 1890, of $407,535.32.

The amount appropriated by order approved May 12, 1888, was
$368,854.89; and by order approved March 18, 1889, was
$1,000,000; making a total appropriation of $1,368,854.89.

Ck>ntracts are already awarded to the amount of $790,185.24;
leaving an available balance of $171,134.33.

The Teustkes of the Public Library

OF THE Crrr of Boston, by

S. A. B. ABBOTT,

FtesiderU*

MARKET.

Office of the Superintendent, Faneuil Hall Market,

December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir : — In reply to your communication of the 23d inst.
I would respectfuUy report that the portion of the buildings
used for Market purposes is in good repair. Many improve-
ments, which have been made at the expense of the lessees,
have been completed during the year. The rents are paid
promptly. The regulations of the Market are cheerfully com-
plied with, and its well-established reputation for honorable
and fair dealing fully sustained. There should be at an
early day some arrangements made for an improved system
for the drainage of the Market, as that in use at the pres-

APPENDIX. 89

ent time is not what it should be. The gas-pipes in the
Market are in bad condition, having been in use for many
years, and being badly corroded, owing to the dampness and
large quantities of salt used about the building. The experi-
ment of ^ lighting the passage-ways of the Market with incan-
descent lights is now being tried, and gives general satis-
faction.

The income from the Market Department for the fiscal
year 1889-90 will be $85,400. The expenditures for this
Department for the calendar year 1889 have been $9,626.87.
The appropriation for the fiscal year 1889-90 is $9,750,
which includes the amounts paid for salaries, gas, water, and
incidental expenses. Of this sum there remains unexpended
$2,734.11, which will be sufficient to meet the wants of the
Department for the balance of the year. The pay of the
police-officers of this Department ($3 per day) has always
been regulated by that paid the regular police force, and as
their labors are as arduous in every respect as those of the
regular police, I would recommend that an increase be granted
them for the ensuing year.

There are now employed in this Department,-—

One Superintendent,

One Deputy Superintendent,

One Weigher at City Scales,

Three Department policemen, and

One watchman for extra duty.

Respectfully,

GEORGE E. McKAY,
Superintendent of the FaneuU HaU Market.

90 APPENDIX.

MESSENGER.

Office of ths Crrr Messenger, Citt Haix,

December 27, 1889.

Hon. Thomas N. Habt, Mayor of the OUy of Bofion,

Sir: — In reply to Circular 35, dated December 23,1 would
respectfully submit answers to questions, as follows: —

1st. The ordinary work done by this Department for the
calendar year 1889 has been the general care and cleaning of
City Hall; attendance at the meetings of both branches of the
City Council and numerous committee meetings, several of
which have held very late sessions; the care, custody, and
delivery of all City documents, pamphlets, and minutes of the
City Council, printed for the use of the Council, and also the
care, custody, and delivery of the nineteen volumes of the
Record Commissioners' Reports and reprints, and keeping a
record of each book delivered. The total number of meetings
of the Board of Aldermen for the present year is 58, total
number of meetings of the Common Council 40, total number
of committee meetings, up to December 28, inclusive, 1,175.
The extraordinary work performed by this Department has been
the caring for and displaying of the City flags on all public
holidays, etc., and caring for ropes and stakes used on public
holidays and other days by the military and other organizations.
Two new flag-stafifs have been erected, and one repaired.
Extra work has been performed by this Department in connec-
tion with the reception of the City's guests, namely: The
President of the United States, the International American
Congress, the Mayors' Club, the officers of the United-States
Squadron of Evolution, aud others. On the 17th of June,

APPENDIX. 91

the Fourth of July, and the recent State and City elections, a
large amount of extra work has been performed by this De-
partment.

2d. The actual expense of this Department for the past
year, including the January draft for the year 1890, has been
$21,957.23.

8d. The unexpended appropriation for this Department,
January 1, 1890, amounts to $6,218.77.

4th. I would respectfully recommend that the dome and
upper stories of City Hall be made fire-proof, for, if a fire
should occur at any time in the dome of this building, it would
be liable to do considerable damage before the same could be
extinguished. Frequently, fires have occurred in City Hall,
caused by electric-light wires coming in contact with other
wires. Within the past few days I have caused all telephone
wires running into City Hail, except those used by the Fire
Department, to be supplied with a patent safety fuse, as a
protection against fire.

5th. The total number of persons employed in this Depart-
ment is 19, all of whom receive salaries, and, in addition to
this number, there are 2 Lieutenants of Police and 5 house
watchmen, who, by ordinance, are placed in charge of this
Department, to protect City Hall, and to preserve order in any
part thereof. The two Lieutenants receive a sum of $200 each
per annum from this Department, for attending the meetings
of the Board of Aldermen and Common Council.

Respectfully submitted,

ALVAH H. PETERS,

CUy Messenger.

92 APPENDIX.

MILK AND VINEGAR.

Inspector's Office, December 27, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor of Boston.

Sir : — I have the honor to submit the following brief report
of the work of the Department of Inspection of Milk and Vinegar
for the year 1889.

During the past twelve months nearlj twelve thousand samples
of milk, butter, and vinegar have been collected and subjected
to examination. In the obtaining of these samples all parts of
the City have been constantly visited by the collectors employed
by the Department. When analysis has shown the articles to be
not of good standard quality, such action has been taken in each
case as has seemed advisable to bring about improvement in
the future.

To this end 535 warnings have been issued, and 817 com-
plaints have been entered in the courts.

As a result of these complaints, between seven and eight
thousand dollars have thus far been paid in fines, and at the
same time a great improvement has been observed in the quality
of milk and vinegar, particularly in certain districts where
hitherto adulteration has been extensively practised.

The number of licenses issued to dealers in milk and oleomar-
garine since January 1 is 1,198, for which $599 have been
received.

The expenditures of the Department have amounted to
89,478.20, and the unexpended balance of the appropriation,
$2,055.82, will be sufficient for the proper continuance of the
work to the end of the fiscal year.

There are at present employed by the Department, in addition
to the Inspector, a derk, a chemist, and two collectors.

APPENDIX. 93

To increase the efficiency of the work, I would recommend
that the Department be provided with a horse and wagon for
the use of the collectors. As must be evident, the latter being
on foot, are at a great disadvantage in collecting samples from
wagons whose drivers may, and often do, whip up their horses
to escape inspection. In certain outlying districts it is impos-
sible to make early morning collections without a conveyance,
and at present this is done with the aid of a herdic, the expense
of which is not inconsiderable.

Respectfully,

CHARLES HARRINGTON,
Inspector of Milk and Vinegar.

PARK DEPARTMENT.

Commissioners' Office, 85 Milk Street,

December 28, 1889.
Hon, Thomas N. Hart, Mayor,

Sir : — In reply to your request for information regarding
the operations of the Department, for the past year, as
called for by circular letter No. 35, for publication with the
inaugural address, the Board has the honor to submit the fol-
lowing : —

The actual work done by the Department in the calendar
year 1889 is as follows : —

Wood Island Parkj East Boston. — The approaches from
Neptune bridge on the Park grounds have been partially
graded with material taken from the site of the proposed
play-ground on the northerly slope of the park. The work
is being done under a new laying out by the landscape

94 APPENDIX.

architects, which will effect a saving in the construction of
the park.

Marine Park, — The pier-head, a contract for which was
let early in the season, is nearly completed. Foar spans
haye been added to the iron pier, and a contract has been
made for the remaining span to be placed in position when
the pier-head is finished. The Board has made a contract
for 200,000 cubic yards of filling under which about 20,000
cubic yards have been deposited.

Charleahank. — The grading and planting has been finished,
the Gymnasium completed and opened to the public, a build-
ing for use in connection with the Gymnasium and for ad-
ministration purposes erected. Gas lamps have been placed
along the embankment wall, and one hundred park-settees
arranged along the walks. The girls' Gymnasium ground is
ready for the building and the apparatus, and the children's
pl^y-gi^ound is nearly completed.

The Parkway f Back Bay Fens. — Audubon road on the
westerly side of the upper basin has been finished for a
distance of 1,700 feet from Agassiz road, and the adjoining
slopes and large island planted. On the easterly side the
slopes have been completed and mostly planted from Agassiz
bridge to the new Stony-Brook outlet, the walk graded and
partly built, and, except for a short distance near the Stony-
Brook outlet, the slopes around the southerly side of the basin
to the location of the Fen bridge have been graded and
loamed ready for planting. The walk on this side has also
been graded. The channel has been dredged and the shores
completed up to the proposed Fen bridge at the point where
the Parkway is to turn towards Brookline avenue. Excavations
for the foundations of the bridge have also been made. The

APPENDIX. 95

curbstones and paving blocks for the Fenway trom Agassiz
road to the new outlet of Stony Brook have been pur«
chased, and are on the ground, and a large amount of road
material has been prepared for use next year. The Sewer
Department has also partly built the abutments and ^ers
for the Stony-Brook bridge. The question occurs whether
the Sewer Department is to build this brieve. The Board does
not see how this work can be said to belong to the Park De-
partment, inasmuch as Stony Brook was led into the Parkway
at this point by the Sewer Department, and this necessitated
the bridge, there being already another ohannd of Stony
Brook into the Fens.

Arnold Arboretum, — The driveway from the present drive
to Walter street has been graded for about three-quarters
of the distance, — about 2,000 feet, — including the building of
one culvert.

Franklin Park. — The Playstead Shelter and the grounds and
walks about it were finished, and, together with the Play-
stead, were opened to the public on the 12th of June with ap-
propriate ceremonies.

The Walnut-avenue entrances were also finished early in the
season, and the grounds about them planted. A rustic foun-
tain of field-stone, supplied with water from a neighboring
spring, was erected near the Playstead road.

The old Trail road entering the park from Seaver street,
opposite Humboldt avenue, has been finished and the slopes
graded.

The Valley Gate to the Country Park and about 3,500 feet
of the park wall on the line of Glen lane have been com-
pleted. Glen lane (for heavy traffic) has been graded for
two-thirds of the distance across the Park, and about half

96 APPENDIX*

the whole length of the road macadamized and furnished
with edgestones and gutters.

The Circuit drive has been completed and opened to travel
from the Valley gate to Walnut avenue near Ellicott street
— about one-half mile — the slopes graded and some of the
adjacent walks built. This included Ellicott Arch which car-
ries the drive and ride over the walk from Williams-street
entrance to Ellicottdale. The ride has been partly subgraded
along this part of the Circuit drive.

The Circuit drive from Walnut avenue, near Ellicott street,
has been subgraded to the road leading to the dairy and Scar-
borough HUl, and the subgrading of this road is now in
progress.

Ellicottdale has been cleared of stone, drained and mostly
graded.

The upper part of the valley southerly from the Valley gate,
including the old location of Williams street, has been cleared
and graded, and the main line of the Park drainage has been
extended.

There is but little more required to finish the surface of the
Country Park, as it is designed to be left for use by the public,
and the Board hopes that it can be finished next season, not
including the circuit drive from Scarborough Hill around the
southerly and easterly sides to Glen lane.

A flock of 56 sheep has been obtained for the Country Park,
and a temporary sheep-fold provided.

The actual expenses of the Department for 1889 were: —

APPENDIX. 97

Foe Park Construction,

Franklin Park «229,242 66

Back Bay Fens 98»397 08

Marine Park 90,796 13

Charlesbank 25,923 04

Arnold Arboretom 9,029 iX

Wood Island Park 7,569 98

9460,958 30

Fob Park Maintenance.

Franklin Park 917,228 22

Back Bay Fens 12,256 19

Charlesbank 4,800 35

Arnold Arboretom 3,661 64

Marine Park 3,660 74

Wood Island Park 3 30

$41,110 44

For Park Nnrsery 5,408 49

For Department Expenses 6,140 33

The unexpended balances of appropriations December 28,
1889, are: —

Balance of the 3d instalment of the Loan for Park Con-

Btmction 940,898 83

Balance of appropriation for maintenance, including rey-

enne appropriated to maintenance 6,957 04

Balance of Department appropriation 3,124 89

Balance of Nursery appropriation 1,648 99

These balances of the general appropriations the Board thinks
are sufficient to continue the work of the Department to the
end of the fiscal year, April 30, 1890, without further aid.

To carry on the work of Park oonstruction the yearly instal-

98 APPENDIX.

ment of the loan for 1890 will have to be drawn upon in
Febraary.

The Board would recommend that the City Council be urged
to pass the order for a loan of $600,000, outside the Debt
limit, as authorized by the Legislature in 1887, for the pur-
chase of additional land required tor parkways connecting
Back-Bay Fens, Franklin and Marine Parks, especially in
view of the fact that each year's delay enhances the price of
the lands to be acquired, and so increases the cost; and of the
fact that the extension of the Back-Bay Fens as planned can-
not proceed unless additional land is first purchased.

The Board would also suggest that an early construction of
the bridge required at the new outlet of Stony Brook, by the
Sewer Department, will enable the Board to finish its work in
the vicinity now suspended ; and that the placing of edgestones
around the areas reserved for planting on Commonwealth ave-
nue, by the Paving Department, must precede the work of this
Department in planting the areas which are now in its charge.

The number of persons now employed in the Depart-
ment, including all heads and Commissioners, is 535.

Respectfully submitted, for the Board,

BENJAMIN DEAN,

Chairman.

POLICE DEPARTMENT.

Board of Police, 7 Pemberton Square,

December 27, 1889.
HoK. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir : — The number of persons arrested during the year ending
November 80, to which date the statistics of the Police Depart-

APPENDIX. 99

ment are made Dp, was 40,066, an iDcrease of 4,057 over the pre-
ceding year. Of this nnmber, 31 per cent, were non-residents.
The number of n^ales arrested was 34,283 ; of females, 5,783.

The value of property reported stolen was $72,822.64, being
$6,890.73 less than in 1888, and the amount recovered by th&
police, that was stolen in and out of the city, was $122,3301.58,.
being $37,973.82 more than in 1888.

In the license year, beginning May 1, there were 780 pllaces
licensed, not including druggists' and club licenses. This is
1,010 less than in 1888.

There were 144 officers appointed on the force, including 59
reserve men ; 18 were dischaiged ; 5 resigned ; 6 retired on
pension ; and 9 died.

The work of introducing the police signal-system was com-
pleted. The entire City is now equipped. Wagon-houses are
now being built in Divisions 7 and 11, but as yet no provision
has been made for the accommodation of patrol-wagons ia
Divisions 12, 13, and 16.

The expenses of the Department for the calendar year, includ-
ing the draft for January 1, 1890, were $1,151,139.65. The
balance of appropriation unexpended is $321,162.29. This will
not be sufficient to meet the expenses for the remainder of the
financial year, and the Board will require the full amount called
for by the requisition for the present year.

The number of persons employed in the Department is 906.

Respectfully submitted,

A. T. WHITING,

ChairToan*

100

APPENDIX.

POOR, OVERSEERS OF.

Office of the Overseers of the Poor,

December 27, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor,

Sir : — In reply to Circular No. 35 the Board of Overseers
of the Poor reports as follows : —
Nnmber of families aided —

January

. 1,723

July .

954

February .

. 1,743

August

907

March

. 1,618

September .

948

April .

. 1,083

October

986

May .

998

November .

. 1,018

June .

. 1,017

December .

. 1,369

•

A _ ^ • ^\.»

^j_^ •• « J

A% M

In addition to furnishing out-door relief to the poor at
their homes, and burial of the dead, the Board has charge
of the Charit}' Building, the Temporary Home for women
and children, and the Lodge for Wa3'farers for men.

The Charity Building is occupied by the Overseers of the
Poor, the State Aid Paymaster, the City Physician, and vari-
ous private charitable organizations, it having been built to
bring together the most important charitable agencies, and
thus enable them to work together for the common good.

At the Temporary Home 3,722 women and children have
lodged, and 15,515 meals have been furnished to others.

The Lodge for Wayfarers has lodged 30,704 men, and
furnished 73,140 meals. The beneficiaries have worked for
the relief furnished. Over 1,800 cords of wood have been
prepared and sold during the year.

The Board has a grocery department connected with the

APPENDIX. 101

Charity Bailding, from which most of the supplies for the
poor are delivered.

Medical attendance and medicine are famished in the out-
lying districts of the city not covered by the Boston Dis-
pensary.

The expenses of the Department for the year 1889 amount
to $109,410.83.

The unexpended appropriation is 945,812.21. The Board
believes this amount to be sufficient for the calls to be made
upon it for the balance of tbe fiscal year.

The Board consists of 12 members who serve without pay.
It employs a Secretary, Treasurer, 4 Clerks, 7 Visitors, 2
Agents, 5 Physicians, 2 Storekeepers, Eagineer, and Janitor.
At the Temporary Home, a Matron, Assistant Matron, Jani-
tor, and Cook are employed.

At the Lodge for Wayfarers, a Superintendent, Cashier,
Steward, and such temporary employees as may be needed
from time to time, averaging 19.

The Trust Funds in charge of the Board are carefully
invested, and the income expended in accordance with the
directions of the donors.

In behalf of the Board of Overseers of the Poor,

THOMAS F. TEMPLE,

Clxairman*

PRINTING.

Office of the Superintendent of Printing,

CriT Hall, December 26, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor,

Sir: — The actual work done by this Department in the
calendar year 1889 consisted of the printing of various blanks

102 APPENDIX.

and books in use in the different Depailments, and the regu-
lar docaments for the use of the City Coancil; and the pur-
chase of stock consumed in the production of the same.
In addition, the following volumes and maps were issued : —

1,500 copies Crispus Attucks Memorial,

5,720 «' Sheridan Memorial,

1,500 '' Old State House Memorial,

2,500 '' Bunker Hill Tablets Memorial,

1,000 *' Statutes Affecting City of Boston,

1,500 '^ Digest of Building Laws,

19 volumes Record Commissioners' Reports (500 copies each),

2 editions of Colonial Laws,

1 ,000 Maps of Town of Dorchester,

500 Large Maps of Boston, and

2,000 Ward Precinct Map Books.

The actual expenses of the Department for the same period
(excluding draft of January 1, 1889, and including draft of
January 1, 1890) were $64,805.19.

The unexpended balance for the fiscal year ending April 80,

1890, of the Printing Appropriation proper, is . • . $6,883 09

The estimated income for the balance of year is . • . 8,000 00

Becord Commissioners* item, unexpended balance, is . . 5,176 16

Total 1^15,059 25

It is expected that the foregoing sum will be barely enough
to carry the work of the Department through to the end of
the year; but as the Superintendent has no control over the
expenditure of the appropriation, and merely conforms to all
legal orders of the City Council in expending it, the City
Council will have to provide for any deficiency which may
occur.

APPENDIX. 103

The Superintendent believes that greater efficiency of the
Department would be secured if the employment of an ad-
ditional clerk were permitted, and the appropriation for Print-
ing and Stationery of the several Departments, not specially
exempt by law, consolidated in the Annual Estimates under the
general heading of Printing and Stationery; the control of the
expenditure of the whole to be given to the Superintendent of
the Printing Department. By this means better terms for the
purchase' of Stationery supplies might be made, and a more
satisfactory supervision obtained.

The total ntimber of persons employed in the Department is
three, as follows: The Superintendent, a clerk, and the in-
dexer of the Minutes of the City Council.

Respectfully,

THOMAS J. LANE,
Superintendent.

PROVISIONS, INSPECTION OF.

Officb or Ikspectob, December 26, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. ELlbt, Mayor of Boston.

Sib : — In response to Circular 35 I report the amount and
the kind of articles of food that have been condemned and
destroyed by this Department during the past year.
Whole number of seizures, 982.

3,379 pounds of Veal. (Immature.)

870 " Veal. (Tainted.)

9,052 " Poultry.

163 " Pork.

1,854 " Fish.

104 APPENDIX.

86,740 pounds of Dates.
624 " Mutton.

1,158 barrels of Potatoes.

180

((

Cabbage.

1,843

Spinach.

Peas.

Beans. (String, Wax, etc.)

Cucumbers.

Lobsters.

Lettuce.

Radishes.

Kale.

((

Oranges.

Pears.

Apples.

((

Pineapples.

108

Cantaloupes.

Egg-plant.

Cauliflower.

4,472

boxes

of Beans. (String, Wax, etc.)

416

((

Peas.

((

Oranges.

((

Summer Squash.

Apples.

((

Peaches.

((

Cucumbers.

((

Tomatoes.

829

quarts

of Strawberries-

1,076

((

Berries. (Blue and Black.)

gallons

of Oysters.

2,585 dozen

Eggs.

APPENDIX. 105

59 baskets of Peas.
120 jars of Lobster.
120 cans of Com.
24 ** Tomatoes.
72 '* Sardines.
16 *' Grapes.
48 Carlew.
The actual expense of the Department for the period men-
tioned has been two thousand two hundred -^jj dollars
(82,200.30). Of the sum appropriated for the Department,
there remain unexpended eight hundred fifty-nine -^fP^ dollars
($859.76), which I believe is sufficient for the needs of the
Department for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Much difficulty has been experienced in carrying out the pro-
visions of Section 2 of Chapter 58, Public Statutes, because of
the doubtful meaning of said section, and I would suggest that
it be so amended as to place the expense of removing articles
seized as unfit for food under this section upon the owner or
person in whose custody they may be found at the time of
seizure.
In this Department there is but one person employed.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM MACKIN,
Iw^pector of Provisiona.

RECORD COMMISSIONERS.

Crrr Hall, December 27, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sib: — The Record Commissioners have to report that their
expenses for the year 1889 amount to 84,862^^0^, leaving an

106 APPENDIX.

anexpended balance of $1,852.16, which is sufficient for the
remainder of the fiscal year.

The Department consists of two Commissioners and four
copyists.

The work done has been the copying of church records
and the preparation for the press of the Town records. The
twentieth volume of their reports has been completed, and
two volumes (viz., Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths,
and the Boston Tax List of 1798) are now in press. A
special volume in regard to the Bunker Hill Tablets was also
prepared and printed by the order of the City Council.

The public interest in and demand for the volumes of
reports continues unabated.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM H. WHITMORE,

Chairman.

REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND

DEATHS.

Office of the Citt Registrar, December 26, 1889.

To the Mayor.

Sir: — I beg leave to state that the entire expenses of this
Department are for salaries, determined by the City ordinance,
for record books and stationery, and for the annual collection
of births, made in pursuance of State laws. The appropriation
granted for these purposes during the present year by the
City Council was $14,160, of which there remain unexpended
$7,004.50. This amount will be sufficient to meet the wants of
this Department until the end of the present fiscal year.

APPBNDIX. 107

The number of persons employed in this office is eight — three
men and five female clerks.

Yoor obedient servant,

N. A. APOLLONIO,

City Registrar.

SCHOOLS.
[From the Superintendent]

The School Committee has given much attention to needed
improvements in the ventilation of school-houses. Although
much remains to be done, it is believed that all the worst cases
of defective ventilation have been cured.

A further provision for the safety of the children in school-
houses was made by placing the janitors under the rules of the
civil service.

The tenure of office by which most of the teachers in the City
now hold their places, has been changed from one that terminated
annually to one that continues during the pleasure of the School
Committee. This measure undoubtedly places the teachers in a
more agreeable and dignified position than they held under the old
tenure.

Manual training has made satisfactory progress in the elemen-
tary grades during the year; but a most important step yet
remains to be taken — the establishment of a Mechanic Arts High
School. An elaborate plan for such a school has been prepared,
and the specifications for the erection and furnishing of a proper
building are ready. The City Government will be asked to make
the necessary appropriations for the land, the building, and the
running expenses.

108 APPENDIX.

[From the Auditing Clerk.]

The expenses of the School Committee from January 1,
1889, to January 1, 1890, amount to $1,643,976.61.

The unexpended balance remaining January 1, 1890, is
$419,691.04.

It is expected that the unexpended balance will prove suf-
ficient to carry on the work of this Department for the
balance of the financial year without further aid.

The number of persons employed to carry on the work,
instructors (day and evening), janitors, ofiicers, and other em-
ployees, December 1, 1889, was 1,783. This number does
not include the members of the School Committee, twenty-four
in number, who serve without compensation.

SEWER DEPARTMENT.

Office of the Superintendent,

December 28, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sir: — Apart from the work of maintaining the old sewers,
which, sometimes, necessitated the making of extensive repairs,
there have been built by this Department, during the calen-
dar year 1889, about 5| miles of new sewers and 183 new
catch basins; and about 825 old catch basins have been
repaured. About 2 miles of sewers have been built by private
parties at their own expense and subsequently were released
to the City.

The construction of the Stony Brook Improvement has been
completed.

The works at the Main Drainage pumping station and at

APPENDIX. 109

Moon Island are in good order. The cost of repairs on the
works will increase from year to year, owing to the wearing
out and necessary renewal of important parts of the system.

The attention of the City Council has already been called
to the necessity of proiriding means for a permanent conduit
from Squantum to Moon Island; also, for pumping out the
tunnel; and I would again call attention to the danger of
postponement.

During the eleven months ending November 30, 1889, the
average amount of sewage pumped daily has been 51,256,898
gallons — showing an increase over tbat pumped last year of
616,866 gallons daily. The largest number of gallons pumped
on any one day was on January 7, 1889 — 138,615,771 gal-
lons; and the smallest, on November 17, 1889 — 32,217,372
gallons.

Sewer assessments to the amount of $69,249.39 have been
levied under the old law, and to the amount of $32,976.65
under the new law relating to sewer assessments.

This new law, or rather Special Act, relating to sewer
assessments in the City of Boston, which was approved on
June 7, 1889, has entailed a large amount of extra work
on the Department, necessitating the opening of a new set of
accounts and requiring that each and every individual assessed
shall be notified of the amount of his assessment and the
requirements of the law relating thereto.

Under this law, the amount to be collected as an assess-
ment on account of the construction of a sewer depends
upon the cost of all the sewers built in the City during the
five years immediately preceding, and bears no relation to
the cost of that particular sewer. This fact has caused
widespread dissatisfaction among property owners, as, in a

110 APPENDIX.

majoril}'' of cases, tbe amoant assessed is largely in excess of
the actaal cost of the sewer hi questioa. The provision of
the law, requiring that interest shall be charged from the
date of completion of the sewer, thus commencing before the
parties interested have been notified of the fact that an as-
sessment has been levied against them, has also eaused a great
deal of complaint which appears to be well founded, and
there is a general demand for a repeal or modification of the
law.

The amounts expended under the different appropriations
during the year are as> follows: —

Sewer Department (which includes the cost of nadntalning
the Main Drainage Works, the care of Stony Brook and

the Cleaning of Catch Basin?) $372,816 85

Stony Brook ImproYement 105,671 51

Sewer, Hudson Street 9,462 92

Sewers, South Core District ....... 7,312 76

Sewer, Meridian Street • • » . ^ . . . 6,688 10

Sewer, Magazine Street ........ 3,500 00

Sewer, Mount Vernon Street 1,000 00

Sewers, Ashmont 54 85

Total $506,506 99

Of Special Loans, I have unexpended balances amounting^
in the aggregate, to $57,969.56.

The unexpended balance of my Sewer Appropriation,
$66,420.26, is suflQcient to carry the Department successfully
to the end of the fiscal 3*ear.

There are employed in this Department to-day 865 men.

Attention is respectfully called to the need of much latter
appropriations for building sewers. Many of the sewers are
leaky and in bad condition. They should, at once, be re-

APPENDIX. Ill

placed by water-tight sewers, not only as a sanitary measure
but to afford relief to the intercepting sewers; for, until all
sewers and drains connecting with the main drainage system
are made water-tight, the full benefit of that system cannot
obtain.

It is, also, desirable, and will soon become a necessitj^ to
abandon the combined system of drainage in the outlying popu-
lous districts, and to divert the surface water, or portions of it,
into the natural water courses, or into tide water, thereby
affording relief to the abutters now frequently flooded in times
of storm. This will avoid the necessity of pumping surface
water at the Pumping Station. To accomplish this purpose,
all natural water courses should be presei-ved.

The Act relating to Sewer Assessments is believed to be
irksome and unjust, imposing a larger proportion of the
expense upon the abutting estates than they should be called
upon to pay, and believed to be largely in excess of the rate
designed by its projectors.

As sewers are necessary in all populous districts, for the
health and prosperity of the entire community, it would appear
worthy of consideration, whether the system of direct assess-
ment for sewers should not be abandoned and the entire cost
paid by current taxes ; or, else, the rate made uniform —
say — one cent ($0.01) per square foot of land drained.

Respectfully submitted,

CHARLES MORTON,

Superintendent of Seivera.

112

APPENDIX.

STREETS AND PAVING.

Office of Superintendbnt of Streets,

City Hall, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.
Sir : — I have the honor to report :

Ist. '^The actual work done in the calendar year 1889" may
be briefly sammarized as follows: —

Granite blocks laid
New edgestone set

29,667 sq. yds.

82,773 iin. feet.

51,390 " "

43,911 sq. yds.
1,547 " "

11,590 Iin. feet.

19,428 sq. yds.

1,369 " "

1,188 ** "

$18,502 89

$23,464 15

$157,806 42

Edgestone reset .
Brick sidewalk laid
Concrete sidewalk laid
Flagging (cross-walks) laid
Round stone gutters
Asphalt pavement, new
Asphalt pavement, resurfaced
Grade damages, executions of Court
"Watering streets by contract
Expended for general repairs

2d. '^ The actual expenses of the Department for the same
period, excluding the draft of January 1, 1889, but including
that of January, 1890": —

Balance on hand January 1, 1889
Loan January 2, 1889
Transferred from Commonwealth ave-
nue • •••••

Transferred from Boylston street
Loan February 16, 1889 .
Appropriation for 1889
Loan December 24, 1889 .

$8,265 11
66,300 00

11,000 00

5,000 00

57,889 30

648,229 00

50,000 00

$846,683 41

APPENDIX.

113

EapendUures : —
Labor • • • • •
Street material . • . .
Teaming, hired ....
Teaming hired for watering streets
Watering streets by contract

Sundries

Balance on hand January 1, 1890

Special appropriations: —

On hand January 1, 1889 .

Appropriation January 2, 1889 .

May 1, 1889
September 25, 1889

Transferred September 19, 1889

Appropriated December 23, 1889

Expended to date

Balance on hand

$323,048 81
147,169 44
70,689 25
20,113 00
23,464 15
176,064 97
86,134 29

$846,683 41

$17,960 15
117,000 00
161,725 00
207,000 00
2,000 00
14,000 00

$519,685 15
298,922 96

$220,762 19 Jan. 1, 1890

3d. ''The unexpended appropriation and my ability to con-
tifiue the work of the Department to the end of the fiscal
year, April 30, 1890, with or without further aid" : —

Balance of regular appropriation January 1, 1890 . $86,134 29
" " Special ** «* " . 220,762 19

Total $306,896 48

The Department is at present on full time, and to continue
it so until April 30, 1890, will require for —

114 APPENDIX.

Labor $160,000 00

Office salaries 5,005 00

Hay, grain, etc 2,500 00

Street material 10,000 00

Water 6,237 00

Incidentals, grade damages, etc 10,000 00

Total $198,742 00

My ability to continue the work of the Department until the
end of the fiscal year without fbrther aid will depend entirely
upon the character of the winter and the amount of snow to
be handled. I find by the Superintendent's report for the year
1887 that the amount expended for snow was $116,000, while
for the same purpose in 1888 only $6,500 was required. Should
the present winter be as favorable as the last the remainder
of the general and special appropriations will be sufficient for
all purposes.

4th. ^^ Any recommendations for the greater efficiency of this
Department, especially such as may require action on the part
of the Mayor, the City Council, or the Commonwealth." I
desire again to call attention to the constantly increasing
street mileage of the City, and the necessity for sufficient appro-
priations to do the work of the Department. The annual
appropriations for some 3'ears have been barely sufficient to
meet the requirements of constant repairs, cleaning, purchase
of new material, steam road-rollers, stone-crushers, engines,
and the various expenses incidental to the Department. Tet
I am expected with this appropriation to attend to the hundreds
of orders passed by the Board of Aldermen for new work on
edgestones, brick sidewalks, and the construction of new streets.

V
y

APPENDIX. 115

This is an absolute impossibility, and much of this work remains
iindone, to the great annoyance of the petitioners.

By reference to the statement of actual work done during
the year it will be seen tliat six miles of new edgestone have
been laid. One-half the expense of this work is assessed upon
the abutters, and returns to the sinking-fund.

It has been suggested that measures be taken to secure an
appropriation of $500,000 annually for new work; this, if
applied to new edgestone and new paving, as well as to the
construction of new streets, would go far towards enabling me
to bring the Department to the point of efficiency at which it
should be maintained.

The matter of street openings continues to be a constant
source of annoyance to the Department and to the citizens at
large. So long as the Board of Aldermen grants to various
corporations the right to occupy the streets, the Superintendent
has no option but to grant the permits to open. Where for-
merly there were only the sewer, water, and gas pipes to
contend with, we now have in addition the telephone, electric
lighting, heating, and freezing pipes, with their numberless con-
nections with the buildings.

During the year 9,750 permits, varying in length from 10
feet to 500 feet, have been granted, and every precaution pos-
sible has been taken to see that the disturbed pavement has
been restored to its former condition. We have a good sys-
tem of inspection, and defects are also reported by the police.
Settlement invariably takes place after the 0[)eniug has been
filled, and the companies are frequently required to pave a
second and third time. With these requests they liave always
shown a readiness to comply whenever the responsibility has
been well established. I do not think it advisable, so long as

116 APPENDIX.

this merciless CDtting-up ooniioiies, to lay any expensive pave-
ment upon our streets. A granite pavement on a hydraulic
cement base, at $4 a square yard, or any form of asphalt
pavement seems to me to be unwise until some greater restric-
tions are put upon the issuing of permits, or a subway or some
comprehensive system is provided by which the underground
service can be cared for without disturbing the street surfaces.

The first cost ot such a way would doubtless be something
appalling, yet it is a question whether the amount now actually
spent in carrying on the present cumbersome system would not
amply provide for the interest on the larger expenditures.

5th. The total number of persons employed in this Depart-
ment at the present time is seven hundred and sixty-three.

Very respectfully,

J. EDWIN JONES,

Superintendent of Stress.

SURVEYOR.

Cmr Survetor's Office^
CiTT Hall, December 26, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir: — The work of the Department has been of the same
general character as that of previous years ; but as the City is
growing from year to year, there is a gradual increase in the
.amount of work performed.

Plans and profiles of a large number of streets in the outlying
districts have been made, and releases prepared for the abutters
to sign, preparatory to the laying out of these streets by the
Street Commissioners.

APPENDIX. 117

More buildings having been erected in Boston during the past
year than in 1888, and more work in giving lines and grades of
streets for building purposes has been required of this Depart-
ment than during the previous year.

Flans and profiles for the relocation of Mt. Vernon and Temple
streets, and the lowering of the grades of those streets in the
vicinity of the State-House extension, have recently been com-
pleted.

A large plan of the burnt district, by the fire of Thanksgiving
day, has been compiled, showing the estates within the limits
of the district burnt over, and also showing other estates in the
vicinity. Plans have also been made, for the Street Commis-
sioners, showing the proposed widening of Chauncy street,
between Bedford street and Rowe place, the proposed widening
of Bedford street between Chauncy and Kingston streets, and the
proposed widening of Kingston street at the north-easterly comer
of Bedford street — all within the limits of the burnt district.

Plans of the new precincts, 286 in number, have been pre-

. pared for the use of the Registrars of Voters, who have caused

them to be heliotyped. Another set of precinct plans has been

prepared and heliotyped, and bound up in book-form, showing

wards and precincts, for the use of the City Council.

The expenses of the Department from January 1, 1889, to
January 1, 1890, amount to $34,825.71.

The amount of the appropriation unexpended is $8,879.97,
which will probably be sufficient for the remainder of the finan-
cial year.

The total number of persons employed at the present time

is 35.

Verj' respectfully,

THOMAS W. DAVIS,

City Surveyor.

118

APPENDIX.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

CiTT Treasurer's Office, January 1, 1890.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sir : — The undersigned herewith presents a statement, in com-
pliance with your request of December 28, 1889, of the receipts
and payments of the City of Boston and County of Suffolk for
the year 1889, beginning January 1, 1889, ending December 31 ,
1889, showing the balance of money remaining in the Treasury
December 31, 1889, and where deposited, and of the other
matters referred to in your conmnunication.

Yours most respectfully,

ALFRED T. TURNER,

City Treasurer.

STATEMENT

For the Caiendar Tear 1889, beginning January 1, 1889, ending

December 31, 1889 : —

Balance on hand January 1, 1889

$8,264 «» 60

RxcBirrs.

From City Collector: .

On CitT Account

$16,408,951 68
804,69*44

On County Account .......

Temporary Loans :^

AnUoIpation of Tazet, 1889, 2H

$2,000,000 00

CltyLoana: —

General Loan of January 8, 1889, 4)( . • .

769,000 00

General Loan of February 16, 1889, 4^ . .

416,000 00

New Library Building, Dartmouth it., ZH

600,000 00

' Improredf Seweraire. 3M

600,000 00

Public Park Construction, 4)(

600,000 00

ICiMellaneoua purposes, S^jt

600,000 00

6,186,000 00

Carried /orwardt

$90,898,616 02

$8,204,006 69

APPENDIX.

119

Brought forward,
finiVolk Oonn^ Loads : —

Oenenl Loan of February 16, 1880, 4$ . •
CottUfeOite Water Loam : —

Sztenaion of Maina, etc, 0

Kxtenalon of ICaina, eie.. mi

Additional Supply of Water, S^

Shopa, Allwny atreet, O. W. Works, 8|^ .

Board of Oommlsdonera of Sinking Funds >-

For payment of debt . . •

For eoflt of redemption of sterling debt • .

Premium on CSoddtnate Water Loans negoti-
ated

$900,000 00

180,000 00

146,000 00

60,000 00

Interest on Back Deposits

Fay Roll TaLinn, from paymasters* settle-
mente w?lh Ouhier, parties unpaid • . .

Premium ol Oity Loans negotiated

$1,167,828 90
1,648 20

Tax titles, received from owners to seeure
estatea sold for taxes

Interest on OoeUtuate Water Loans negoti-
ated

PJLTXSST8.

On aocoant of the City of Boston : -~

On Mayor's Drafto : Oeneral Drafts ....

PayKollDrafte . . .
OarrUd foraardt

•$6,607,666 84
t6,600,067 66

$18,016,028 40

$90,808,6U 02

64,000 00

$8,264,606 60

686,000 00

1,160,871 48

84,016 60
60,176 00

22,060 02
121,247 40

900 44

44 44

22,004,681 88
$36,160,286 80

•Amount of General Drafte through City Auditor's

Office from January 1, 1880 $6,610,674 78

Add: Amount of General Drafte outstand-
ing December 81, 1888 •

2,846 18

Leas: Amount enjoined and restrained from pay-
ment by Supreme Judicial Court

Amount tranaforredto **01d Claims," April
80, 1880

Amount not paid December 81, 1880

$6,618,010 01

$800 60

1.117 10
13,446 47

6,464 07
$6,607,666 84

X Amount of Pay Roll Drafte through City Auditor's Office from

January 1, 1880 $6,600,601 22

Add : Amount of Pay Roll Drafte outstanding Decem-
ber 81, 1880 22,826 66

Less : Amount not paid December 31, 1880

$6,582,427 87
23,870 81

$6,600,067 66

120

APPENDIX.

Bntmifht forwairdt

Special Dr»fU .

Commonwealth of McuoaehutgUa: —

State Tax *< 1889"

NaUonal Bank Tax «* 1880*'

National Bank Tax "1888"

Corporation Tax "1888"

Armory Loan AaMflsment

Liquor Lioenw Bevenae ** 1880 '*
Liquor Llcenae BeTenne ** 1888 '* . •

Board of OommUtiwMrt of Sinking
litndt : —

Berenue, payable under authority of
Ordinanoe on Finance

Premium on Loans negotiated

Pay-BoH Tailing!, payments by Cashier
to parties not paid by paymasters • . .

• • • •

$18,016,828 40
6,640,880 00

PoUoe Charitable Fund

City Hospital Trust Funds

City Debt due prior to May 1, 1880 . . .
Taxes, eto., held under protest, refunded

Taxes, etc., refunded

Mount Hope Cemetery

Cochituate Water^Bates refunded . . . .
Public Library Trust Funds

Sewer Assessmenta held under protest,
refunded ••

Evergreen Cemetery Trust Fund i

Besidne Tax Sales, eto

Oatried /ortoard,

t$18,666,454 80

$738,0M00

040,400 20

1,167 67

4,862 80

81,408 »

221,668 76

277 00

$06,761 00
140,660 80

1,627,879 26

236,420 80

28,164 81
12,600 00
0,600 00
6,000 00
6,608 28
8,606 01
2,400 00
1,000 40
1,400 00

386 40
800 00
219 86

$80,498,368 80

t Includes, City Debt paid $1,167,828 80

Coat of Bedemption of Sterling Debt 1,648 20

Temporary Loans 2,000,000 00

t Includes Interest paid as follows : —

On City Debt $1,681,880 82

On Cochttuate Water Debt 764,728 27

On Mystic Water Debt 41,667 60

$8460,Sn 40

$2,318,871 W

APPBNDIZ.

121

JBraught forward,
OM ClAtcnfl. MaTor*s Dnftt .......

$20,408,868 80
142 08
104 88
10 46

Mvitio Water Ratnt rttfimded

•
t

#20.408,025 80

TmytDMiatB <» aeeovni of ib» County of Suf-
folk:—

Allowed by Auditor of Cocmty of Suffolk,

MaTor*! Special Drute • . . •

#666,870 86

602,614 68

882 60

66 00

18 40
626
400

CoQntT 4i>w to CroniplalnaBt

Oounty ftnee, award to wife for neglect
to raoport bv hoeband *•.««•••

Judgment for eosU of suit agatntt rare-
tiee on bail bond In caee Commonwealth

fli«. Tjiav M. O-nvA luiil Gtavrmt RlnvAr .

Bounty for de«tnictlon of Seala . . t . .

1,280,050 Tt

#21J6S,686 07

KxaAPiTiJi.ATxo]r.
Balanee. JaBuarr 1. 1880

#8»2OI,606 6O

Becelpts on accoimt of the City of Boeton,

$22,686,067 86
868,668 44

on aoconnt of the Coonty of Suffolk,

22,001,681 80

#20,408,626 SO
1,260,060 77

Faymenta on aeconnt of the City of BoatonJ
on aooount of the (Joonty of Suffolk,

#26,160,286 80
21,768,686 07

Balaaoe. December 81. 1880

#4,400,661 82

* Amount of Comity RegistratioDe tbrovgh
County Andltor's offloe from January 1,
1880 .

: Amonnta transferred to "Old
Claims," April 80, 1880 • .
Amomits not paid December 81.
1880

Add : Amounts outstanding Deoembor
1,1880

#066,687 20
817 40

#667,404 60

#8 26
616 60

6S4M

#666,870 86

t Inelades Coonty Debt paid, #17»000.00. f Inohtdes Ifttereat paid <m Coonty Debt, #88,407 J»0.

122

APPENDIX.

Balance. Deoember 81, 1889, at per preceding stotament, de-

ledT •

poilted in tile following-named 1>anks : —

Atlantio NaUonal Bank

Atlaa Nattonal Bank

Blaokitone Nationai Bank

Boston National Bank

Broadway National Bank

Banker HIU NaUonai Bank

Central National Bank

Sverett National Bank

Faneull Nattonal Bank

Fint Ward National Bank

Foarth National Bank

Freeman's Nattonal Bank

Lincoln National Bank

Mannfaetarera* National Bank . . .

Market Nattonal Bank

ICaeiacbveette Nattonal Bank ....

Kayeilck Nattonal Bank

ICechanAes' Nattonal Bank

KetropoUtan Nattonal Bank ....

Monument National Bank

Motwt Vernon National Bank . . • .
Nattonal Bank of the Oommonwealth
Nattonal Bank of North Ameilca . .

Nattonal City Bank

Nattonal Bzcliange Bank

Nattonal Hide and Leather Bank . .

Nattonal Boeklaad Bank

Nattonal Becnrity Bank

Nattonal Webeter Bank

North Nattonal Bank

Old Boston Nattonal Bank .....

People's Nattonal Bank .......

Shawmat Nattonal Bank

CkurrUd /brward.

$75,115 07
75,188 78
75,120 48
75.144 85

50.087 50
76,147 04
75,181 80

50.005 80

75.147 02
60,100 02
75,135 82
75,181 50

75.180 60
75,143 84

75.148 82
75,110 04

75.181 48

50.006 00

50.088 80
50,008 73
50,006 88
75,181 52
75,181 60
75^35 02
'75,181 51

75,110 17
75,148 14
75,160 01
75,148 84
75,148 85
75,148 84
75.148 75
75,118 01

$2,804,100 86

APPENDIX.

123

Brought foru>ard.
Third National Bank .
Tremont Katfonal Bank

Globe National Bank

Howard National Bank

National Bank of Redemption

National Bank of tile Repnblio .

National Berere Bank

National Beeority Bank, Fay*roll Tailings aeooant .

Gaah depoalted In Bank*

Gaah and caah vonehera In ofice, Inclading paymente made
on January, 1880, Draft •

$2,804,1«> 66
76,148 86
76,116 67

$2,464^480 18
899,632 45
889,878 81
851,002 04
663,148 88
462,619 76
6,607 87

$4,816,766 04
83,886 78

$4,400,651 -82

Expenses of the Dbpabtuent, Etc.

The actual expenses of the Department during the calendar
year 1889 were $37,030.75.

The unexpended appropriation for the present financial
year 1889-90 is, $10,086.60, which will be sufficient to meet the
wants of the Department to the end of the fiscal year.

The total number of persons employed in this Department,
including the City Treasurer, is fifteen.

124 APPENDIX.

VOTERS' REGISTRATION.

Board or Rbgistbabs of Voters, 12 Beacon Street,

December 27, 1889.
HoK. Thomas N. EUrt, Mayor.

Sir: — 1. We have the honor to say that the work of the De-
partment during the calendar year 1889 has been the prepara-
tion of the Jury List, the rearranging and reprinting of all
names on the voting-lists in conformity with the new precinct
lines as established by the order of March 20, 1889, together
with the preparation and publication of the voting-lists for the
annual State and municipal elections.

The provisions of the new Massachusetts Ballot law have
largely increased the labor and expense of the Department, in-
volving the examination of nomination papers of candidates for
State and municipal offices, in which 12,500 names were actually
verified, out of more than 20,000 names submitted ; and the at-
tendance at hearings on contested nominations before the Board
of Final Appeal of which this Board forms a part.

2. The actual expenses of the Department from January 1
to December 81, 1889, amount to $46,706.16.

8. The unexpended balance of our appropriation amounts to
$5,488.53, and it will require the further sum of $8,000 to
meet the expenses of the Department for the balance of the
financial year, as advised in our communication to your Honor
dated November 8, 1889.

4. We may ask for some amendments to the new Ballot
Law with a view to perfecting some of its sections, which we now
find quite difficult of practical operation.

5. The total number of persons now employed in the De-
partment is nine.

APPENDIX. 125

We woald respectfully suggest that the number of voting-
precincts be reduced from two hundred and eighty-six to two
hundred. This calculation is based upon the average ratio of
increase in the number of voters, which, in the near Ibture, will
reach 80,000, thus giving an average of 400 to each precinct.
From our own observations and the testimony of others who have
given the subject considerable thought, wo are of the opinion
that four hundred or even five hundred persons can conveniently
vote under the new system within the time allowed by law be-
tween the opening and closing of the polls on election day. If
a reduction of precincts should be made in accordance with the
above suggestion, it would, in our Judgment, result in a saving to
the City of at least $65,000 between now and 1895, at which time
the ward lines must be changed, which change will necessitate the
rearrangement of many of the precincts, but will not necessarily
add to the number.

Respectfully,
The Board of Registrars of Voters,

LINUS E. PEARSON,

Chairman.

WATER BOARD.

Office of the Boston Water Board.

CiTT Hall, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor.

Sm: — In answer to your Circular of December 23 the Bos-
ton Water Board has the honor to report as follows : —

In the Eastern Division, during the year 1889, the amount
of work done has been larger than usual. The distributing
mains have been extended 22.3 miles, and 1.7 miles of the old

126 APPENDIX.

maiuB have been relaid with pipes of larger size. The total
length of mains now connected with the works is 479 miles.
2,054 services have been connected with the works, a number
larger than daring any year since 1872. The supply for fire
service has been improved by the addition of 168 hydrants,
and also by the substitution of 118 hydrants of improved pat«
tern and large size for the same number of small hydrants of
the old pattern. 456 new meters have been added and 112
discontinued, making a net increase of 344. Hie pipe line,
laid through the City of Qnincy from Neponset to Long Island,
for the supply of the Public Institutions oo the island, was
completed and placed in service during the latter part of Au-
gust of the current year. The 80-inch and 16- inch connecting
mains for the supply of Charlestown from the Cochituate
works will be in readiness for use within a few days, and a
water tank for the use of the supplementary high service for
East Boston has been erected on Breed's Island.

A new 20-inch main for the improvement of the high service
supply in the City prc^r has been laid from the reservoir at
Parker Hill to Boston Common, a distance of 15,650 feet.
This work is complete with the exception of the connection over
the Boston & Albany Railroad at Huntington avenue, which
will be made within two weeks. Plans are under way for the
removal of the machine shops and oflBces of the Eastern Divi-
sion from the present location at 221 Federal street to the yard
of the Department on Albany street, near Concord street. A
new brick stable is now nearly completed at this yard, and a
contract has been awarded for a building to contain the ma-
chine shop and the offices.
The Waste Detection Department has made during the year

APPENDIX. 127

examinatioDS of 37,000 premises, and 8,800 reports of defec-
tive fixtures have been made.

In the Western Division surveys and borings for the much-
needed new water basin, Dam No. 5 so called, were begun
immediately after the passage and approval of the necessary
loan order by the City Council this autumn, and the work of
construction will be began as early in the spring as the weather
wQl permit. Surveys are also being made for the acquisition
by eminent domain at an early date of Whitehall Pond and
other lands and water rights necessary for the development and
protection of the supply.

A contract was made and work begun on the new outlet
dam at Lake Cochituate, which should be completed by the end
of another season, and the lining of a portion of the Bea-
con-street tunnel, which had threatened to cave in, is steadily
progressing. At the Chestnut-Hill Pumpiug Station an elec-
tric-light plant has been put in and is in operation, and a
small biological laboratory has been erected and supplied
with the necessary apparatus under the direction of a com-
petent assistant for a systematic study of the animal and
vegetable organisms which may be found in the water sup-
ply. It is hoped that this innovation will be of much
service in helping the Department ta aixive at more accu-
rate knowledge regarding the character of the supply.

In accordance with the direction of the Board the Engi-
neer has begun a series of filtration experiments with a view
to formulating at an early day a plan for the filtration of
the entire supply, data concerning which we hope to present
by the end of another year.

We are glad to report that the Framingham sewerage sys-
tem is in operation, and that connections by the parties who

128 ' APPENDIX.

drain into the Boston water supply are being made with
reasonable despatch, which could develop into celerity with
advantage to the City of Boston. The plan for the disposal
of the sewage of Marlboro' has been revised, and a hearing
on the same is shortly to be held before the State Board of
Health.

The whole important question of pollution will be treated
at length by the Board in its annual report. We beg to
state that the matter is being carefully studied and systema-
tized at the present time with a determination to putting an
end to such abuses as exist in the Cochituate and Sudbury
system. Several injunctions have been obtained against par-
ties polluting the supply.

In the Mystic Division, in addition to the regular work,
Important repairs have been made on the dam at Mj-stic
Lake, and an independent condenser and air pumps for
engines 1 and 2 are now being put in. Considerable labor
has been expended in cleaning the various ponds of the sys-
tem, in the hope of saving the supply from further det«-
rioration. Concerning the future of the Mystic the Board
has not at this moment arrived at a definite conclusion.

The daily average consumption of water has been 83
gallons per head on the Cochituate and Sudbury supply, and
70.5 gallons per head on the Mystic supply, a decrease of 8.5
per cent, in the case of the former, and 5.1 per cent, in the
latter, as compared with the previous year.

Acting under advice of the City Engineer we have informed
the City Council that a new engine is needed at the Chestnut-
Hill Pumping Station to supplement those now in use, and the
passage of a loan order to build the same is very desirable.

The total number of the employees of the entire Department

APPENDIX. 129

at this date, being our winter force, is 417, subdivided as fol-
lows : Eastern Division 229 ; Western Division 81 ; Mystic
Division 73 ; Water Board office 8 ; Special Agents 3 ; Engi-
neering force (temporary) 23.

Respectfully submitted,

The Boston Wateb Boasd,

ROBERT GRANT,

GhairiHan.

CocHiTUATE Water-Works.

MaiTitenance Account*

Statement of Expenditures from January 1, 1889, to January 1, 2890.

Boston Water Board, Salaries, Trayelling EzpenseB, Printing,

Stationery, etc $16,235 78

Water Registrar's Department, Salaries, Trarelling Expenses,

Printing, Stationery, etc 41,213 18

Eastern Diyision, Salaries, Trayelling Expenses, Printing,

Stationery, etc 17,208 11

Western Diyision, Salaries, Trayelling Expenses, Printing, Sta-
tionery, etc 10,977 95

Inspection and Waste Diyision . . ... 7,485 48

Meter Diyision 6,487 86

Federal-Street Yard 9,916 46

Albany-Street Yard 7,653 25

Lake Cochitnate 8,807 76

Cochitnate Aqueduct . ^ 2,091 68

Sudbury Aqueduct 19,808 60

Sudbury Basins 8,289 03

Chestnut Hill Driyeway 1,779 64

Special Agents (8), Salaries, Trayelling Expenses, etc. . . 8,802 51

Telephones 932 75

Cktrried forward, $157,489 44

130 APPENDIX.

Brought forward^ $167,489 44

Maverick Wharf, Salary of Agent, Rent, Coal, etc. . . 2,119 02

Main Pipe, relaying 17,744 27

Main Pipe, repairing 7,149 47

Hydrants, repairing 18,029 00

Stopcocks, repairing 2,417 49

Hydrant and Stopcock Boxes 4,835 18

Tools and repairing 9,960 71

Streets, repairing 10,392 79

Seryice Pipe, repairing 12,553 91

Fountains 3,486 56

Stables 10,489 23

High Seryice, Chestnut Hill 19,265 70

High Service, East Boston 2,140 77

High Service, West Roxbury 3,159 58

Chestnut Hill Reservoir 25,177 09

Parker Hill Reservoir 1,370 15

East and South Boston Reservoirs 742 20

Fisher Hill Reservoir 871 91

Brookline Reservoir 972 93

Meters, setting and repairing 4,673 85

Waste Detection 16,597 87

Analyses of Waters 845 00

Damages 2,004 92

Taxes 1,931 50

Collection of Water Rates 2,500 00

Inspection of Water Sources 1,646 92

Improvement of Sudbury and Cochituate Supply . • 4,505 61

New Stable, Albany-Street Yard 290 13

Merchandise sold from Stock Ill 13

Old Material, charged off from Stock Account . . . 1,012 55

•345,986 88

APPENDIX. 131

Appropriation, Cochitoate Water- Works, for year ending

April 80, 1890 $407,660 00

Expended, inclnding January draft 1890, to date (Decem-
ber 27, 1889,) 9 months 240,584 64

Balance unexpended 1^167,075 46

ExTEKsioN or Mains, bto.

Expenditures from January 2, 1889, to January I, 1890.

Main Pipe, Uying 9231,895 68

Service Pipe, laying 42,817 01

Sidewalk Stopcocks 22,879 88

Extension to Long Island 86,073 75

Connection with Charlestown 11,127 44

Miscellaneous 2,926 04

New Main, East Boston (Balance) 144 46

$347,863 76

Balance appropriation, extension of mains, etc.,

on May 1, 1889 $8,009 14

Additional appropriation 1889 .... 350,000 00

$358,009 14

Expended, including January draft 1890, to date (Decem-
ber 27, 1889,) 9 months 265,113 79

Balance unexpended $92,895 35

High Sbbyiob.

Balance appropriation May 1, 1889 $12,436 87

Expended, including January draft 1890, to date (Decem-
ber 27, 1889,) 9 months 12,411 28

Balance imexpended $25 09

Introduction of Meters and Inspection.
Coehiiuate Water- Works.

Balance appropriation May 1, 1889 $19,465 22

Expended inclu(Ung January draft 1890, to date (Decem-
ber 27, 1889,) 9 months 12,685 97

Balance unexpended $6,779 25

132 APPENDIX.

iMPBOTEMBirr OF Laks Coghttuatb.

Balance of appropriation May 1, 1889 $14,815 99

Expended, including January draft 1890, to date (Decem-
ber 27, 1889,) 9 months 3,608 68

Balance unexpended $11,807 86

Additional Supply of Watbb,
Balance appropriations May 1, 1889 . . $20,194 89
Additional appropriation (order Noyember 13,

1889) 1,046,000 00

$1,066,194 89

Expended, inclnding January draft 1890, to date (Decem-
ber 27, 1889,) 9 months 8,602 61

Balance unexpended 81,061,692 28

Mtstic Watee-Works.
Maintenance Account.
Statement of ^cpendiiures from January 1, 1889 y to January 1, 1890.
Boston Water Board, TraTelling Ezpenaes, Salaries, Printing,

etc $6,428 40

Water Begistrar's Department, Travelling Expenses, Salaries,

Printing, etc 9,722 47

Superintendent's Department, Travelling Expenses, Salaries,

Printing, etc 6,471 81

Oflf and On Water 2,841 90

Mfun Pipe, relaying 11,437 84

Main Pipe, repairing 986 04

Service Pipe, laying 1,849 97

Service Pipe, repairing 3,060 01

Hydrants, repairing 700 28

Gates, repairing 962 87

Streets, repairing 922 96

Lake 6,203 74

Carried forwoA'dy $60,077 78

APPENDIX. 133

Brought forward^ $60,077 78

Condnit 949 41

Engine-House 2,892 82

Stables 4,823 68

Eesenroir 2,887 78

Pamplng Service 24,624 88

Repair Shop 2,943 88

Fonntains 863 21

Tools and Repairing 739 64

Mystic Sewer 21,741 66

Waste Detection Serrice 2,039 75

Inspection and Waste Division 1,869 29

Meter Division 2,101 30

Meters, setting and repairing 984 63

Special Agents 144 44

Protection of Water Sources 1,344 76

Taxes 68 80

Analyses of Water 8J 00

Merchandise sold 29 84

Main Pipe, laying 1,31048

Portion of cost of New Main to East Boston ... 14 24

Connection with Cochitoate High Service .... 1,606 21

Connection with Cochituate Low Service .... 2,692 63

$126,660 21

Appropriation, Mystic Water- Works, for year ending April 30,

1890 $174,366 00

Expended, including January draft 1890, to date (December

27, 1889,) 9 months 86,366 17

Balance unexpended $88,998 83

Iktroduction of Mbtebs and Insfectiok.

Mystic Water- Works.

Balance appropriation May 1, 1889 $886 b^

Expended to date (December 27, 1889) 143 75

Balance unexpended $742 81

134 APPENDIX.

WATER REGISTRAR.

Office of the Water Registrar,

CiTT Hall, December 28, 1889.
Hon. Thos. N. Hart, Mayor,

Sir: — In response to Circular 85 I herewith submit the fol-
lowing concise statement of work performed, together with the
expenses of this Department, for the calendar year 1889, also
the unexpended appropriation for the year ending April 30,
1890.

CocHnuATB Works.

Total receipts from January 1, 1889, to date . $1,380,680 27
Total receipts for corresponding time in 1888 . 1,347,118 79

Increase $33,561 48

Mystic Works.

Total receipts from January 1, 1889, to date . $319,101 19
Total receipts for corresponding time in 1888 . 304,272 26

Increase $14,828 93

The actual expenses of this Department from January 1,
1889, to date have been 950,930.27. The unexpended appro-
priation for the year ending April 30, 1890, is $23,563.89,
and is ample to continue the work of the Department for the
year.

A comparative statement of work performed in the service
branch of the Department for the years 1888 and 1889 : —

APPENDIX.

135

1888.

188».

2,546

2,947

1,391

2,912

1,120

1,154

2,641

2,762

2,285

2,894

New service-pipes laid

Cases service-pipes repaired

Gases off and on water for nonpayment

Cases off and on water for repairs

First time applications

The total number of persons now employed in this Depart-
ment is 43, including 14 laborers.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM F. DAVIS,

Water Registrar.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Sealer's Office, December 28, 1889.
To His Honor the Mayor.

Sir : — In compliance with Circular 35 I respectfully sub-
mit the following statement of the operations of this De-
partment from January 1, 1889, to December 26, 1889.

Number of scales tested

9,040

" *' weights tested .

. 32,984

** " dry measures tested .

5,185

*' ** wet measures tested .

6,714

'* " yard-sticks tested

. 1,262

" *' charcoal baskets tested

*' " grain tubs tested

" '* coal baskets tested .

The expenses of this Department for the current calendar
year (excluding the draft of January 1, 1889) will be
$6,560.98.

136 APPENDIX.

The unexpended appropriation on January 1, 1890, will be
nearly sufficient to continue the work of the Department to
the end of the fiscal year, April 80, 1890. On account of
expenditures, which were not called for in the estimates, a
small appropriation may be necessary to carry the Depart-
ment to April 30, 1890.

I find that an important part of the duty of this Depart-
ment has not been properly attended to. I would recommend
that a Deputy Sealer be appointed for the special purpose
of testing and sealing charcoal and coal baskets, and ped-
lers' measures of all kinds, which would be a benefit to the
poor people of this City.

The number of persons employed in this Department is six.

Respectfully submitted,

THOMAS F. BELL,

Sealer of Weights and Measures.

m^t^mm

. *

4Ua^ k-ijf. /^..^-s-.i'-^

FAREWELL MESSAGE

THOMAS N. HART,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY I, 1 89 1.

BOSTON:
Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

189 I.

FAREWELL MESSAGE

THOMAS N. HART,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY I, 1 89 1.

avSs

risfrr- •« ■

«*.

>1 M03T0W1A. S;

BOSTON:

Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

I 89 I.

FAREWELL MESSAGE.

To THE Honorable the City Council.

Gentlemen : — In taking leave of the City
Government by means of a Farewell Message, —
foUoMdng the precedent of the greatest Mayor we
ever had, the elder Quincy, — it seems right to
dismiss personal motive, and to submit, for the
consideration of the City Government and the
citizens, such conclusions as an experience of eight
years in the service of the City, two of them
in the Mayoralty, may justify.

CITIZENSHIP.

The duty of governing our great cities satis-
factorily and right, it seems to me, is but in
part a question of law, and very largely a mat-
ter of good citizenship properly exercised. "When
highminded citizens choose the right persons to
make up their City Government and School
Committee, it is of secondary importance what
particular laws and ordinances may be in force.
The public will be properly served. With ill-
informed or ill-disposed persons in officet even

4 FAREWELL MESSAGE.

rigid and perfect laws will not be a sufficient
protection of the public interest.

The highest vote ever reached in our City elec-
tions, in 1888, was 63,548. With a population of
450,000, we ought to have nearly 90,000 male
voters. The abstainers, it will be found, are mostly
citizens who favor good government; for those
that look to special benefits from the City are
now on the voting-lists. It is important, in my
opinion, to bring out a full vote at every elec-
tion, to naturalise our residents as fast as pos-
sible, and to teach the duties of citizenship where-
ever possible, notably in our schools. We want
good citizens. Good citizens alone are good
voters.

THE CITY CHARTER.

We shall have the best possible government
when all our citizens having the constitutional
qualifications vote as nearly right as they can, and
when our laws are brought as near perfection as
reason and experience dictate. The constitution of
a great American city should be substantially like
that of the United States. In Boston we have
taken two long steps in that direction. Our charter
of 1822 drew a sharp line between the judiciary
and all other government duties, and nobody has
ever thought of returning to the confusion that

FAREWELL MESSAGE. 5

marked our Town Government, In the Act of 1885
(ch. 266) we have separated our City Council
from the Executive, Time has justified this div-
ision of power. But more remains to be done.

I am of opinion that our Common Council
should have concurrent power with the Board of
Aldermen, and that a City Council of two branches
should be retained, as should the system of Alder-
manic Districts. State and national Senators are
elected by districts and States; there are no
Senators at large. Neither should there be Aldei:-
men at large. And as long as our Board of
Aldermen has the prerogative of confirming or
rejecting nearly three thousand executive appoint-
ments, — a power which should remain where it
is, — the Common Council might have the sole
right of originating finance bills. The members
of the Common Council and the School Commit-
tee should receive compensation for their services,
and perquisites should be abolished. At present
the poor cannot well afibrd to serve in the Com-
mon Council or the School Committee. Yet the
City has need of their services, and the City Gov-
ernment belongs to all alike. Let us beware of
making public offices the natural property of the
rich. In a government of the people and for the
people, the voice of the poor should not be un-
heard.

g FAREWELL MESSAGE

CONSOLIDATION OP DEPARTMENTS.

I renew my recommendation for the consoUda-
lion of certain Executive Departments for the
benefit of the public and the public service. The
number of separate Departments directly controlled
by the Mayor of the City is thirty-nine, with
ninety-two separate heads, not including more
than a hundred sub-heads or assistants subject to
the Mayor's confirmation, and excluding, also, more
than twenty-five hundred Executive appointments,
made annually subject to confirmation in the Board
of Aldermen. If the Mayor wishes to make his
appointments from actual knowledge, sufficient
time will not be left for administrative work and
for the necessary inspection of the thirty-nine
separate Departments under his control, not to
mention the half-dozen independent Depart-
ments and special boards subject only to his
general supervision. If the Mayor cannot readily
keep familiar with the Departments, how can the
plain citizen who comes to City Hall to transact
business ? The President of the United States
has eight Cabinet officers, the Mayor of Boston
has ninety-two.

We need a Board of Public Works forthwith,
and other consolidations in time. There is no
valid reason why the five Ferry Commissioners,

FAREWELL MESSAGE.

established by Ordinance, should not be replaced
by one Superintendfent, to be appointed by the
Mayor subject to confirmation in the Board of
Aldermen. Mt. Hope Cemetery should be placed
under similar control. I think one Record Com-
missioner sufScient. The Fire Department, the
Law Department, the Park' Department, the Public
Institutions, and the entire Water department
should have one well-paid head each, three-headed
commissions tending to divide responsibility, and
to give a less energetic and harmonious service than
the public requires. The office of Fire Marshal,
established by the Commonwealth, should be abol-
ished, and its duties transferred to the Fire
Department. In the Records, Fire, and Law De-
partments the simplification can be established by
Ordinance. Constables should be appointed by the
Board of Police. All weighers and measurers
should be attached to the Department .of Weights
and Measures.

TERMS OP orncB.

Heads of Departments should be appointed
during good behavior, and all subordinates, save
in a few cases, should come under the civil-
service regulations of the Commonwealth, partly
to abolish favoritism, that curse of government,
partly to save time usually wasted when places

8 r FAREWELL MESSAGE.

in the public service are filled upon the request
of interested persons. Officers appointed by the
Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen,
unless in charge of a Department established by
Ordinance, should be appointed for one year only.
At present Constables, Weighers of Coal, and other
nunpr officers serve until removed, or until others are
appointed in their respective places.

I think our present system of annually electing
the entire City Government little less than bar-
barous. There is no sound reason why Mayors
should not be elected for terms of two or three years,
and why the members of the City Council should
not be chosen for like terms, one-half or one-third to
be voted for annually. In that way the City Coun-
cil would become a perpetual body, and the annual
elections would no longer give so imfortunate a
shock to the public service and the interests of the
City. Annual elections as now held are neither
instructive nor useful. Longer terms of elective
officers are conservative and will place upon voters
a greater duty.

PUBLIC WORKS.

In view of the great undertakings begun years
ago, very little new work has been attempted
during the past two years. Of the great works
not yet completed, the parks and the new Public-

FAREWELL MESSAGE. 9

Library building require still further appropria-
tions. These enormous enterprises, to which the
new County Court-House should be added, are
carried on under special authority conferred by
the State, the City having very little to do beyond
paying the bills and accepting the outcome. The
Harvard Bridge may be added, as it was built
under orders from the Commonwealth. Completed
some time since, it is not yet open to travel,
through no fault of the City of Boston. The
works referred to have cost, so far, $10,782,644.15
in actual disbursements; and when they are com-
pleted, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be
required annually for maintenance.

I shall not find fault with these vast under-
takings. They are worthy of a rich and proud
city. But it might be proper to plan more care-
fully before millions are sunk in a new building or
other public work; and the sooner we charge a
good part of the cost into our taxes, the better
it will be. The idea that the future should pay
for improvements it will inherit, is not altogether
sound. The future will have its own duties and
new enterprises. The smaller the debt we be-
queath to posterity, the more we shall be hon-
ored and called prudent. A debt is a burden.
A heavy debt is a calamity.

10 FAREWELL MESSAGE.

CITY HALL.

The present City Hall should be extended, with-
out unreasonable delay, to Coui*t Street. The ad-
dition should be plain, very substantial, and as
nearly jBireproof as skill can make it. The oc- !

cupation of the new Court-House has begun. The
old Court-House should be vacated as rapidly j

as possible, and its rebuilding, for City-Hall
purposes, should begin at once, partly to put an
end, as soon as possible, to the rents we now
pay in accommodating City and County officers
(at present, $38,032.06 a year), partly to bring
all City officers together in one central building.
I am confident that the proper place for the Fire
Commissioners is in City Hall, and not in the
headquarters building contemplated by a hasty
appropriation of $165,000 made in the conster-
nation after the great fires of 1889. The Fire
Commissioners are not appointed to put out
fires, or to command engine companies, but to
manage the property and the affairs of the De-
partment. They need a business office only, and
not a show place that is likely to do more harm
than good. The Department Chief, being the
officer in command at fires, has a centrally-
located office in Mason Street, which answers all
legitimate purposes.

FAREWELL MESSAGE. ^1

SCHOOLS.

The City has been specially liberal, during the
past two years, to our public schools. Two large
school-houses have been completed and dedicated;
four large school-houses have been authorised and
partly contracted for; and the great Roxbury High-
School building approaches completion. The allow-
ance for current expenses, mostly for the salaries
of teachers, has been generous, and the relations
between the School Committee and City Hall have
been exceedingly friendly. It seems wise to build
plain school-houses as requirements arise, and to
devote increasing attention to the lower grade of
schools. We shall deserve the thanks of our
fellow-citizens and posterity when we give the
children in our City a plain English education
coupled with as much manual and industrial
training as may be possible. The future voter
and wage-worker will need his senses, plain
English, and skilled hands much more than the
rudiments of professional learning.

WATER SUPPLY.

The Water Works of the City are in the best con-
dition ever reported. The water supply is pure and
abundant, and the rates to consumers were reduced
7 per cent, a year ago, and 10 per cent, a few days

12 FAREWELL MESSAGE.

ago. For the next ten years the system may be ex-
pected to meet the wants of the community. The
addition of Whitehall Pond to the system, the im-
provement of the Cedar-Swamp district, and the
expected completion of Basin Five, place the Water-
Supply Department in a strong position. The work
of the Department toward assuring the purity of the
supply is entitled to further encouragement, and the
acts of the Commonwealth in that direction are
highly appreciated.

LIGHTrSTG.

The lighting of the City is excellent. In two
years the number of electric lights has been in-
creased from 704 to 1125, and their cost materially
reduced. The number of gas lights has been
lessened from 10,104 to 9281, the number of oil
lamps has been increased from 2994 to 3056. The
Department has been well managed.

STREETS.

The City needs authority for laying out and
establishing the grade of streets throughout its
territory. For obvious reasons the Board of
Street Commissioners, whose duties have been
discharged with equal fidelity and usefulness,
should be clothed with authority for establishing
lines beyond which no building could be erected.

FAREWELL MESSAGE. ]3

This will obviate the costly experience the City-
has had in the Church-Street district, and the
indiscriminate erection of buildings in new streets
to suit the preference of owners alone.

Kneeland Street, from Harrison Avenue to
Albany Street, and Pleasant Street, from Park
Square to Washington Street should be widened,
to prevent blockades near the southern railroad
stations, and to relieve the South-Boston travel.
To relieve Washington and Treraont Streets as
the great thoroughfares between the shopping-
district of the City and the northern railroad
stations, I suggest that Staniford and Temple
Streets be widened, and that easy communication
for street cars and teams be established between
these thoroughfares and Park Street. This im-
provement, fairly invited by the addition to the
State House, would divert a part of the traffic
now passing through Adams and Scollay Squares,
beside opening a new section of the City for
first-class business purposes.

PAVING.

Much expensive re-paving is needed throughout
the section south of Causeway Street and north
of Beach Street. Boylston Street should be
paved with granite blocks from Church Street
to West Chester Park; Chester Park from Har-

14 PABEWELL MESSAGE.

vard Bridge to Boston street, Dorchester; and
Dorchester Avenue to Lower Mills. For our resi-
dence streets a new pavement will have to be
adopted. Macadamising suffices for parkways and
suburban or lightly- travelled streets; for sections
like the South End, the Back Bay, Charlestown,
and any well-travelled City street, it is insufficient
and unsatisfactory, being muddy in wet weather,
dusty in dry seasons, and very costly to maintain
at that. The demands of the people for better
pavements are imperative. Perhaps it may be best
to resort to rock asphalt, the imitations of which,
containing coal tar, have proved unequal to the re-
quirements of a city like Boston. The subject is
important enough to be entrusted to a commission
of paid experts, with instructions to consult the
experience of other communities. The National
Government has promised to submit special con-
sular reports upon this topic. Meanwhile our
Street Department has been conducted during the
past two years with great efficiency and with xm-
failing fidelity to the City and the citizens. The
censure heaped upon the Dapartment and its hon-
orable Superintendent should have been directed
asrainst our financial resources. The entire force
of the Department has been employed without
interruption.

FAREWELL MESSAGE. 15

SEWERS AND HEALTH.

Our sewers are not satisfactory. Many of them
are antiquated, and should be rebuilt systemati-
cally rather than piecemeal. The Improved
Sewerage System has given some relief, and the
Metropolitan system, both north and south of
Charles river, promises more. But the smaller
sewers are not what they should be, least of all
in the older sections of the Citv. During the

past five years the City has not expended half
the sums really needed for sewers, and some day
the subject may force itself unpleasantly upon
public attention.

For the first time in many years the mortality
rate of the City is reported at less than twenty-
three to each thousand inhabitants. This wel-
come gain for the year 1890 cannot be
maintained, unless the City expends millions for
sewers, and takes every advantage of the Met-
ropolitan Sewerage system now under construction.
It will save wealth and sorrow to reduce the
annual death rate below two per cent.

LAW DEPARTMENT.

The curt notice of the War Department, in 1888,
that by this day the Charles-river bridges should be
altered, was met in a spirit of fairness, and has been

16 FAREWELL MESSAGE.

indefinitely extended, the Corporation Counsel ren-
dering services of eminent value. The Law De-
partment, of which he is the chief, has rendered
acceptable assistance in replacing a government of
committees, traditions, and law by a government
rather of law. This transition, not yet complete, is
bequeathed to the fostering care of our successors.
Boston needs a government, not of party or leaders,
but of plain law.

FINANCES.

The finances of the City, though carefully ad-
ministered, are not satisfactory. Our tax laws
are made by the State, leaving little latitude to
the City. The present Government has asked for
the establishment of occupation fees, with special
reference to corporations occupying our streets.
Should this principle prevail, it may lead to
revenues equitable in themselves and beneficial
to the Treasury of the City. The funded debt
of the City has risen from $48,576,569.29 on
December 31, 1888, to $55,440,361.06 on De-
cember 31, 1890. This enormous increase of
$6,863,791.77 in two years is due in part to per-
manent improvements begun under a previous
administration, but in part also to borrowing
money for current expenses. The magnitude of
the debt may well give our taxpayers pause,

FAREWELL MESSAGE. \J

the demands for interest and sinknag-fund pur-
poses being both onerous and imperative. I regret
to add that the older part of the debt bears
interest at more than four per cent, a year, and
cannot be refunded, save at the pleasure of the
bondholders. The City would gain, should all
municipal bonds be exempt from taxation within
the Commonwealth.

The net debt of the City, being the funded
debt less the sums actually in the sinking-fund,
has grown from $26,850,901.99 on December 31,
1888, to $31,053,496.98 on December 31, 1890,
an increase of $4,202,594.99 under an adminis-
tration that has not thought it right to begin
costly improvements, having been confined to the
inglorious duty of wrestling with inherited ex-
penditures and with resources rigidly limited by
the double authority of the State and public
opinion. The next City Government, it is quite
clear, will have to borrow more money, some of
it for current expenses that ought to be met
from current taxes.

This condition of things is not creditable to
a community of business men. Yet the law lim-
iting our taxes for current expenses to nine
dollars on a thousand of the assessed valuation
still has its champions. In sober truth, the com-
munity for itself, and the State for us, must

IQ FAREWELL MESSAGE.

choose between higher taxes and a higher debt.
Unless the spirit of our people suffers a decline,
our expenses will not diminish. Our streets and
sewers have suffered more than is right and the
community is willing to bear. To meet the ex-
penses now demanded by the public, we must
choose between augmenting our taxes or our debts.
Our taxes can be raised with safety, though the
government that levies a tax of fifteen or sixteen
dollars per thousand may suffer in popularity.
To issue bonds for current and petty expenses is
perilous in the case of poor communities; in the
case of a rich city like ours it is both near-
sighted and immoral. . For six years past we
have enjoyed low taxes, and at the same time
condemned the future to pay in part for what
we have consumed.

The cash in the City Treasury at the close
of business on December 31, 1888, was $3,264,-
605.59; on December 31, 1890, |5,939,227.36.
The year 1888 ended with a legal borrowing
capacity of |22,028; the year 1890 with a legal
borrowing capacity of $1,137,159. Today the City
can borrow $1,800,000. Accordingly we dp not
leave our successors without ample resources for
all immediate wants. We leave them also a
government unsullied by our hands.

FABEWSLL HE88AGB. 19

CONCLUSION.

Gentlemen of the City Council : — The Gov-
ernment of this year and its immediate predecessor
have been above suspicion. The work of the two
years has been done without ostentation and
without marked shortcomings. The City has
been almost free from calamities. I thank the
Departments for their fidelity. In thanking you
for the good . you have done, I speak for the
City we love and for the office of which I now
take leave.

AliX'^:

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY $, 1891.

BOSTON:
Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

189 I.

'7 ■ - ■

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr..

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY J, 1891.J

BOSTON:

ROCKWBLL AND ChURCHILL, CiTY PRINTERS.

I 89 I.

CITY OF BOSTON

In Board of Ai.derm£n,

January 5, 1891.

Ordered^ That His Honor the Mayor be requested to
furnish the City Council with a copy of his Inaugural
Address, for publication.

Passed. Sent down for concurrence. January 5, came
up concurred.

A true copy.

Attest :

JOHN T. PRIEST,

AsaistarU City Clerk.

ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the City Council: —

Entering upon the discharge of my duties as
Mayor of Boston without previous service in the
city government, I shall at this time, with a single
exception, refrain from discussing in detail the
works or needs of the several departments, as it
is proper that personal familiarity with their man-
agement should precede criticism. The excep-
tion will relate to the ordinary building operations
of the city: namely, the construction and repair
of streets and buildings, matters to which my
business and professional activity has been largely
devoted; and the rest of this message will be
confined to the suggestion of certain general
reforms of administration and finance which I
have long felt to be essential to the eflEiciency
of the government and the development of the
city.

THE CITY riKANOES.

The financial condition of the city should com-
mand the attention not only of the City Council
but of the citizens at large. The indebtedness

4 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

of the city is larger than ever before, and is
increasing at a dangerous rate. We owe more
money and raise more taxes, per capita, than any
other large city in the country. The gross debt
is now $56,440,361.06, or |6,863,791.77 more than
on Jan. 1, 1889; and the net debt is $31,053,-
496.98, or $4,202,594.99 more than two years ago.
The tax-levy has also been raised, the increase
in valuations enabling the city to vote an annual
appropriation order, during the past two years,
averaging $1,040,980 more than the average ap-
propriation orders of the preceding four years;
and the amount of the appropriations for 1890
was within $176,281 of that for 1884, the size
of which frightened the citizens into demanding
a statutory limitation of the tax-rate. Notwith-
standing this increase in the annual tax-levy, and
the fact that large additional sums have been
secured for current expenses from the funded
debt (a practice wholly indefensible on general
principles), the outgoing city government has
already, in the first eight months of the current
year, expended so much of the annual appro-
priations that it will be strange if there is not
a deficiency in several departments before May 1.
All this might be borne without public com-
plaint if the citizens were receiving equivalent
public advantages. But there is a well-founded
belief that this is not the case, and that for

• /

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 5

the money we spend we should obtain far
greater municipal benefits. Improvements under-
taken several years ago are still awaiting com-
pletion; other improvements necessary to the
growth and prosperity of the city cannot even
be considered; the condition of the streets is
bad; the construction of new streets proceeds in
as slow and unsatisfactory a way as ever; the
demand for new school-houses and the extension^
of our public-school system in the line of indus-
trial education has not been met; and in other
respects the tax-payers justly feel that they are
not receiving anything like a full equivalent for
the constant increase in taxation and indebted-
ness.

Not only are our taxes increasing in amount,
but the method of assessment renders them un-
necessarily burdensome. The double taxation of
incomes, credits, paper values, and other forms of
intangible property is a burden upon our mer-
chants not imposed on their competitors in the
other mercantile centres of the country, and con-
stitutes one of the chief drawbacks to the com-
mercial progress of the city.

Inasmuch as every dollar raised by taxation
comes eventually from the masses of the people
and largely from the wages of labor, it is the in-
terest of all the citizens that the causes for this
condition of things should be investigated, and a

6 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

remedy, if possible, discovered and applied. Much,
doubtless, can be accomplished by reforms in the
administration of the various departments, particu-
larly by such changes in methods as will tend to
secure a greater concentration of service and re-
sponsibility, and a complete return in work for
the very liberal expenditure in salaries and wages ;
but 'in the meantime it lies within the power of the
City Council and the State Legislature to inaugu-
rate certain general reforms in our system of mu-
nicipal government which will of themselves enable
us, on the one hand, to realize the desire of the
people for a broad and progressive municipal policy
without an increase in taxation, and, on the other
hand, to simplify and render less burdensome the
taxes now collected.

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION.

' The present condition of affairs is due, in my
judgment, not only to defective administrative
methods, but to the loose, haphazard, and unsys-
tematic way in which public improvements have
been undertaken, to a radically bad system of tax-
ation, and to the dependence of the City Govern-
ment on the State Legislature.

The social change which has taken place during
the past fifty years in the concentration of popula-
tion in the great cities of the country has not been

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

recognized in legislation. The city of Boston is
no longer a New England town on a large scale :
it is a great commercial and industrial city, the
metropolis of New England, with a population
greater than that of the whole State of New Hamp-
shire ; and it should no longer be kept in the lead-
ing-strings of the General Court, with le&& powers
of self-government than those of many large cities
in the most centralized monarchies of Europe.
The prediction made at the time when our first
city charter was adopted, that *Hhe only bill of
rights of the town of Boston shall be the will of
the Legislature of Massachusetts,'^ has been ful-
filled; and the power of the Legislature over city
affairs has often been exercised without the ap-
proval of the people or the City Council, some-
times in the very face of municipal objection, and
generally without regard to the future develop-
ment of the city.

No stronger instance of the unfortunate conse-
quences of the legal relations that have hitherto
obtained between the City and the State can be
found than that furnished by the manner in which
the control of the streets of Boston has passed from
the citizens to private corporations. The courts
of law took away from the abutters their common-
law rights in the soil of the highways, and vested
these rights in the State; and successive Legisla-
tures thereupon proceeded to grant them out to

8 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

private corporations without compensation to the
abutters, either as individuals or as members of
the municipal corporation. The evil results of this
theory of the respective rights of the State, the
City, and the individual in the public ways have at
last become apparent ; the supposed business neces-
sities of one generation have proved the burden of
the next; and although an escape from the present
conditions may be difficult, a proper regard for the
public interest requires that a change should be
made from a system that deprives the municipality
of the large revenue it might obtain from the use
of its streets.

Another instance is found in our system of
taxation, which, created and limited by general
State laws, is wholly inadequate to the needs of
the city of Boston, however suited it may be to
those of the smaller country towns. If the city
had the power to raise its taxes (at least for

/ municipal purposes) in such manner as it saw
fit, it would undoubtedly adopt a radically differ-
ent system from that which the Legislature might
properly determine to be best for the smaller
towns. It would certainly, for instance, be profi-
table for the city of Boston to have the right

• to levy its taxes to a less extent on credits and
other forms of personal property than is possible
to-day. We should very likely prefer to raise
some portion of the $2,600,000, or thereabouts,

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 9

now collected from personal property, by » a tax
on legacies and successions. It would help the
city treasury if the State tax now collected from
private corporations enjoying municipal privileges
should either be apportioned among the cities
and towns of the Commonwealth in proportion
to the value of the locations granted by them,
rather than according to the residence of the
individual stockholders, or abolished altogether,
leaving each city free to tax these corporations in
such manner as it should deem equitable. The
city interest account could be reduced if its bonds
were exempt from taxation ; the amount annually
collected by taxing these bonds being insignifi-
cant in comparison with the benefit to the city
to be realized from their exemption, by enabling
it to place its loans at a lower rate of interest.

Again, it seems to me that the city should
have the right to undertake for itself, if finan-
cial and other conditions permit, all functions of a
public character now commonly intrusted to pri-
vate enterprise. It would doubtless generally be
the case that these rights would not be exer-
cised, but the possession of them would put the
city in a better position to make terms with
individuals and corporations seeking municipal
privileges than is now the case.

In other words, the main need of Boston is
greater powers of self-government; a result to be

10 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

achieved not so much bj increasing or ex-
tending the functions of government as a whole,
as by transferring them from the State to the
municipality.

STREET BUILDING.

There is another reform in taxation which is
peculiarly necessary to the city of Boston. The
present plan of building new streets is at variance
with all sound principles of taxation, and has
been abandoned in many of the newer cities of
the country. The entire cost of building new ^
streets should be borne bv the abutters who are
the persons principally benefited, and not as at ^
present by the city. There would be still some
cases which it would be well to exempt on public
grounds from the operation of this principle, bijt
it should apply to all ordinary street extensions
and improvements.

A board or commission, charged with this
special duty, should first lay out streets in the
outlying wards, where rights of way can be
obtained, on a comprehensive system adapted to
the growth of the city for years to come, and
determine the location, grade, and other details.
A certain proportion of the abutters on any of
these projected streets should have the right to
compel the city, on petition, to construct the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 11

street, which should be immediately filled, graded,
paved, and suppUed with sewers, water, curb-
stones, and sidewalks. The gas companies and
other private corporations likely to ask for loca-
tions in that street should be compelled to put
in their pipes, poles, and wires at the outset.
The money needed to build these streets should
be provided by special loans outside the debt
limit, and the entire expense to the city should
be divided pro rata among the abutting estates,
and charged as a first lien upon them payable,
on long time, with interest at 6 per cent. The
financial part of the business could be in charge
of the Sinking-Fund Commissioners.

The result of this change would be a slight
increase in the cost to builders of getting their
houses ready for the market; but I am satisfied
from personal experience that the compensating
advantage to all persons engaged in the improve-
ment of real estate, in having the streets actually
built and completed when wanted, would outweigh
the increased cost to them.' The benefit to the '^
treasury of the city is diflScult to compute, as the
books of the various departments are not kept in
such a manner as to render it easy to distinguish
between expenditures for new streets, and expen- "^
ditures for ordinary street repairs. Takij;ig account,
however, of the money spent by the Street De-
partment alone, including the general appropria-

12 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

tion for the year and all special appropriations
and loans, I believe that the proposed change
would effect a saving of about half a million dollars
a year in this single department. There would
also be a saving in the other departments in-
trusted with separate portions of the work of
street building, and a profit in the interest account.
The city ought to save in this way at least enough
money to clean the streets and water them.

Apart from the financial benefit to the city treas-
ury, the proposed change would, in my judgment,
give a great stimulus to building operations; the
demand for street improvements would be greatly
increased ; the money would be on hand to pay for
them; permanent employment would be furnished
to a far greater number of city laborers than is
now possible; the repeated tearing up of the streets
would be done away with to a great extent; and
the growth and progress of the city would be
rapidly and scientifically advanced.

CONSOLIDATION OF STREET DEPARTMENTS.

In connection with the general subject of streets
I have one further recommendation to make, and
that is, that all those departments or portions of
departments which ljp.ve to do with the construc-
tion, maintenance, and repair of the public streets
should be consolidated in one department, under

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 13

one responsible head. This work is now divided
between the Street Department, the Department of
Sanitary Police, the Department of Bridges, the
Department of Sewers, and the Water Board.

Everybody recognizes that this division of re-
sponsibility and work inures to the disadvantage
of the city in many ways ; but there has been no
general agreement as to the best method of relief.
I am opposed to the creation of a board of public
works, and also to the consolidation under a single
head of more departments than one first-class man
can direct; and I do not apprehend that much
could be saved in the way of salaries, as there
would still, be* a necessity for separate bureaus or
divisions, each under a responsible head, for the
different branches of the work. I believe, how-
ever, that one man can easily take general charge
of the entire work of street construction and re-
pair, and that a consolidation in one department
under a single head directly responsible to the
Mayor of all the work on the streets now done
by five or six departments would promote economy,
end the present friction between these departments,
enable the labor, machinery, and appliances at the
city's command to be used where most needed,
and help to solve the vexed question of the per-
manent employment of the city laborers in these
departments.

14 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

RAPID TRANSIT.

I have called attention to the necessity for lay-
ing out the future streets of the city upon a sys-
tematic plan. There is another problem connected
with the streets which should also be treated in a
comprehensive, far-seeing spirit, to the end that all
danger of repeating in this case the mistakes in
laying out, widening, and extending streets which
have already been so costly to the city may be I

avoided. I refer to the problem of rapid transit.
Many schemes have been suggested during the
past few years, none of which, it is safe to say,
are entirely satisfactory. On the other hand, the
'demand for rapid transit is a genuine one, and
should be met at an early date. I believe that
the city government itself should grapple with
this problem and endeavor to settle it to the satis-
faction of the people, rather than leave the matter
entirely to the interested action of private cor-
porations.

I recommend, therefore, the appointment of a
commission of experts, consisting of five persons,
to be appointed by the Mayor, and to receive a
sufficient compensation, and an appropriation for
clerical, travelling, and other expenses, whose duty
it shall be to consider the whole subject of rapid
transit, including elevated roads, tunnels, routes,
systems, damages, companies, and in particular the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 15

best means of protecting the financial interests of
the city as a corporation. While the latest plan
presented ' by the West End Railway Company
contains features of merit, and while this company
can alone furnish to the people the benefit of a
continuous trip on both elevated and surface sys-
tems for a single fare, yet the present financial
condition of the city precludes, in my opinion, the
consideration of this proposition. On the other
hand, the company has no right to condemn land
for the purpose of building an elevated road on
the route proposed.

As matters stand, there can be no rapid transit
road across the city until the State Legislature
or the city government shall act. I believe the
proper course to pursue, both in the interest of
the city treasury and of the citizens at large, is
for the city government to take the whole matter
into its own hands, and, without attempting to
interfere with the charter rights of existing cor-
porations, proceed, by means of a special com-
mission, to devise a plan for rapid transit that
shall be permanently useful to the people and
profitable to the city. Any such plan thus re-
ported and adopted by the city government
would undoubtedly receive the sanction of the
Legislature.

I would have this commission consider also
the kindred matter of quicker communication

16 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

between the city proper and East Boston, South
Boston, Charlestown, and Cambridge. The ferries
and drawbridges are a source of great annual
expense, and it is worthy of careful consideration
whether this expenditure cannot be greatly dimin-
ished by the construction of permanent means of
communication across or under the Charles river
and the harbor.

OHAKLES-RiyER BASIN.

The various problems connected with the
Charles-river basin should receive immediate at-
tention. The railroad and other tide-water bridges
interfere with navigation, and block the river for
at least two hours of every tide to the passage
of small boats. On the other hand, the re-
construction of these bridges in the sole interest
of a freer navigation would diminish greatly the
facilities for getting in and out of the city. "We
have, also, in this basin the opportunity for making
the finest water park in any city in this country;
an opportunity which should be grasped before
too late.

The eventual solution of this whole problem
should, I think, be an imitation of the plan adopted
by the city of Hamburg, under similar circum-
stances. We should dam up the stream at the
narrowest point between Charlestown and Boston,

MAYOR'S ABDBESS. 17

and lay out a series of parks and boulevards along
the basin thus created. TJie interests involved are
so many and so complicated, that it would be use-
less to speculate at present on the cost or even
the possibility of carrying out this idea; but it is
possible to ascertain the facts, and I would sug-
gest as the best way of getting at them, that the
city government petition the Legislature to author-
ize the Governor to appoint a commission to con-
sider the whole subject and report to the next
Legislature.

PARKS.

One of the chief improvements undertaken in
recent years is the extension of our park system.
It is to be regretted that constitutional objections
prevent the application to these improvements of
the practice obtaining in foreign countries, where
the expense of similar undertakings is reduced, and
in many cases entirely covered, by condemning the
surrounding land and selling it on completion of
the park, thus enabling the city, rather than pri-
vate individuals, to reap the benefit to neighboring
property. I believe, however, that this principle
could be applied, legislative authority being first
obtained, to some of the park improvements which
the city will be called upon to undertake during
the next few years. I commend this matter to the
consideration of the City Council.

18 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

SOHOOLS.

The present high standard of our public schools
should be maintained, and the appropriations for
this purpose should be as liberal as possible.
Their eflSciency can be further increased, in my
judgment, by the gradual introduction into our
public-school system of instruction in the man-
ual and industrial arts. A manual training high
school should be established at once. It is ob-
vious that new buildings are needed for this pur-
pose, and also to meet the increase and shifting of
population. The establishment of a parental truant
school has also been directed by act of the Legis-
lature. These buildings should be constructed
with a view to economy, durability, and hygienic
considerations, rather than architectural adorn-
ment; and a part of the cost should be defrayed
by the sale of several school-houses, which are
now no longer needed.

architect's department.

In connection with the building operations of
the city I would suggest a reconstruction of the
Architect's Department. The present system costs,
as near as I can ascertain, more than double
what private owners would pay for similar ser-
vices, '.nd prevent the ci,/ L. ^™g the
benefit of progress and competition in design. I

MATOB'S ADDRESS. 19

recommend an early consideration by the City
Council of the details of this much needed
change.

BUILDING LAWS.

The building laws stand in need of revision.
I commend to your attention the report made to
the last city government by the commissioners
appointed for that purpose. The revision proposed
by them contains many sections of great value,
but can, I believe, be still further improved. I
shall take an early opportunity of submitting to
the City Council a redraft of the proposed law.

THE FISCAL YEAR.

A special reform which I think should be
inaugurated at once is a change in the fiscal
year. A month or six weeks ought to be suffi-
cient to enable the departments to close up the
business of the financial year, and to get ready
for the new one. The present system holds out ^
the temptation to the out-going city government to
unload its financial difficulties upon the next, and
the new city government has consequently for
the first four months to bear the burden of the
mistakes of the preceding year, and usually to
make up large deficiencies in appropriations which
should have been taken out of the tax-levy of ^
the previous year. I believe that the fiscal year

20 MATOB'S ADDBESS.

should correspond as nearly as practicable with
the calendar year, and I suggest February 1 as
an available date for that purpose.

CONCLUSION.

Among the foregoing suggestions there are
three which require action by the City Council
alone; namely, the change in the fiscal year, the
consolidation of the various street departments,
and the appointment of a rapid transit commis-
sion.

The other reforms recommended, namely, the
change in our system of laying out, building, and
paying for street improvements, the various
changes in our system of taxation, and the ap-
pointment of a commission to consider the pos-
sibilities of the Charles-river basin, all require
action by the State Legislature, and this should
be based on the request of the city government.

I have confided this inaugural message to the
recommendation of certain radical reforms in our
methods of taxation and of conducting public im-
provements, because I have long been convinced
that changes of this character must be made before
the citizens of Boston can hope to have a satis-
factory and progressive municipal administration
without an increase in taxation.

I believe that public opinion is very generally in

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 21

fayor of tax refonn in the direction here suggested,
as indicated by the fact that one of the great
political parties of the State declared in its plat-
form of 1890 that ^ the time has come when cities
and towns should be intrusted with larger powers
of home rule in matters of taxation and municipal
administration."

It has been characteristic of the people of
this Commonwealth and city to lead the way in
movements of progress and reform. The times
are ripe for well-considered and eflfective im-
provements in municipal administration; and I
should, I believe, misinterpret the sentiments of
my fellow-citizens if I did not assume that they
wiU give a hearty and popular support to all
earnest efforts to prevent Boston from falling
behind other cities in this and foreign countries
in the progressive development of the methods
of municipal government

APPENDIX.

AUDITING DEPARTMENT.

December 31, 1890.
To the Mayor.

Sir : — In answer to your circular letter of December 20, 1890,

I would state that the expenses of this Department for the financial

year 1890-91 to December 81, 1890, have been $18,723.45,

leaving a balance of $7,976.55, which will be sufiScient for the

financial year ending on April 30, 1891.

Herewith please find statements of the debt and Sinking-Funds

of the City of Boston and County of Suffolk.

Very respectfully,

James H. Dodge,

City Auditor.

DEBT STATEMENT.

The Cmr and Countt Debt.

Gross funded debt, December 81, 1889 .... 951,185,741 09
Add funded debt issned in 1890 5,462,000 00

$56,647,741 09
Dednct fnnded debt paid in 1890 1,207,880 08

OroM debt, December 81, 1890 (55,440,8610

Sinking-Fnnds, December 81, 1889 . . #22,789,195 98
Receipts dnring 1890 2,775,892 44

#25,564,588 87
Payments dnring 1890 .... 1,226,448 23

#24,888,140 14
Bonds and mortgages the payments of which

are pledged to the payment of debt . 48,728 94
Total redemption means, December 81, 1890 . 24,886,864 08

Net debt, December 81, 1890 #81,058,496 98

APPENDIX.

Gross debt, December 81, 1890 955,440,861 06

Gross debt, December 31, 1889 51,185,741 09

Increase $4,254,619 97

Net debt, December 31, 1890 $81,058,496 98

Net debt, December 31, 1889 28,321,788 06

Increase $2,731,708 92

City debt, indnding balance of debts assumed by acts of

annexation

County debt .........

Cochituate Water debt

Mystic Water debt

$85,226,087 08

8,229,000 00

16,246,278 98

789,000 00

$55,440,861 06

At the present time the assumed debts remaining unpaid are, on account
of

Charlestown City
Mystic Water .

(<
«(

<(
it

• • •

$502,000 00,

bearing 6%

$888,000 00

" 6%

108,000 00

" 6%

18,000 00

" 4%

240,000 00

" 3i%

85,000 00

789.000 00

" 3J%

West Rozbury

$1,241,000 00
25,000 00

$1,266,000 00

BORROWING POWER.
Statement showing borrowing limit, December 81, 1890

Total Debt, City and County, December 31, 1890
Less Special Loans (outside

of limit) . . . $5,261,000 00
Cochituate Water debt . 16,246,278 98
Mystic Water debt . 789,000 00
County debt (outside
of limit) . . . 2,400,000 00

Amount carried forward^

$55,440,861 06

24,646,278 98
$30,794,087 08

APPENDIX.

Amount brought forward, $80,794,087 08

Sinldng-Fands 924,838,140 14

Less Cochitaate Water Sink-

ing-Fund . . . 95,854,530 21
Mystic Water Sinking-

Fund .... 719,722 81
Public Park Conatmction

Sinking-Fond . . 287,776 16
Special Loans Sinking-
Fond .... 187,646 49
Coonty Coort-Hoose Sink-
ing-Fond . . . 81,957 25

7,081,682 92

: 17,256,507 22

Net debt, excluding debts ootside of limit .... #18,537,579 86

Two per cent, on $733,786,943, average raloation for flye

years, less abatements $14,674,738 86

Debt aa above 13,537,579 86

Right to borrow, under Chap. 178, Acts of 1885, December
31, 1890 $1,137,159 00

Gross Debt akd Debt Requirehents.

Debt upon

which Intereflt

was paid.

Ihtbbist

BlNKIKG-FUimS.

Ybab.

Paid from
Taxet other
than Water.

Paid

from Water

Taxes.

Receipts

from Taxes

other than

Water.

Receipts

from

Water

Taxes.

1878-70 . . .
187»-80 . . .
1880-81 . . .
1881-82 . . .
1882-88 . . .
1883-84 . . .
1884-86 . . .
1886-86 . . .
1886-87 . . .
1887-88 • . .

ItKK^ov • • •

1860^00 . . .

. $42,860,816 28
42,080,125 86
40,040,882 18
40,070,812 04
41,184,368 12
48,186,660 07
42,062,180 02

. 48,628,822 (M
46,700,062 72
48,008,808 46
40,020,476 26
68,080,006 22

$1,666,764 66
1,670447 66
1,686,640 01
1,627,144 06
1,402,877 10
1,638,072 82
1,620,000 10
1,511^8 41
1,628,074 78
1,601,600 28
1,608,862 68
1,642,276 76

$685,406 70
706,002 08
684,621 62
661,410 76
602,208 80
608,078 41
717,618 07
780.688 78
788,740 26
7n,007 06
788,117 82
802,227 88

$664,008 00
405,704 00
608,666 00
781,601 00
720,160 00
768,278 00
780,408 00
648,068 00
626,006 00
740,107 00
808,080 00
882,272 00

$248,328 82
267,706 80
227,440 20
278,804 04
282,28126

280,260 80
186,822 11
860,083 68
260,088 06
270,490 01
826,860 10

APPENDIX.

Loans Authorized bt Statute Outside of Debt Limit.

Year.

Chap.

Object

Amoant
Authorized.

Date of
Approval.

Amount
Issued.

1886
1887

1888
1880

1800

804
101
282
812
894
428
892
68
254
288

S22

271
and
444

Public Park Goiutractloii . . .

Suffolk County Court-Houie .

Harvard Bridge

Public Park Lands

Sewer, Tremont itreet ....

Stony Brook ImproTement •■ .

Public Park Landi

New library Building ....

W. Cheater Park Eztenrion • •

CongreM street and Oliver
■treet Extension

Improved Sewerage

Public Parks, Oharlestown . .

$2,600,000

1 2,500,000

250,000

400,000

75,000

500,000

600,000

1,000,000

75,000

500,000
500,000

200,000

June 21,1886,
March 21, 1887,
May 18,1887,
May 26,1887,
June 11,1887,
June 16,1887,
May 23,1888,
March 1, 1889,
AprU 12, 1889,

April 26, 1889,
May 9, 1889,

May 5 and

June 28,1890,

$2,000,000

2,400,000

250,000

400,000

500,000
600,000
811,000

500,000
200,000

Total •

$9,100,000

$7,661,000

> In addition to the cost of the land.

APPENDIX.

Loans of 1890.

Date of Order.

Jan. A, Feb. 10,
aod Dec. 31,
1887

Mar. 18,1889.

Not. 18,1880.

Jan. 8, 1800 .

Deo. M, 1880,
and Jan. 24,
1800

Feb. 11,1800.

Mar. 1, 1800 .

Mar. 10,1800.

Oct. 18, 1800 .

Oet. 18, 1800 .

Oet. 17, 1800 .

Debt iMned since Jan. 1, 1800.

PnbUo Park Constmotion .
New library Bnlldlng . . •
Additional Supply of Water
Bxtenaion of Maine, ete. . .

Hlffh Serrlee

Suffolk Oonnty Conrt-Honee

Miaoellaneoae

Fublio Park Lands ....

HlgihSeryioe

Mlscellaneone

Bxtenaion of Maine, eto. .
Public Parka, Oharleatown
MlaoeUaneona

Total $5,482,000 00

Included In
Debt Limit.

$1,087,000 00

674,000 00

870,000 00

$2,281,000 00

Outside of
Debt Limit.

$600,000 00
811,000 00
800,000 00
20,000 00
100,000 00
800,000 00

800,000 00
100,000 00

260,000 00
200,000 00

$8,181,000 00

COLLECTING DEPARTMENT.

Janttart 1, 1891.
To the Mayor.

Sm: — The assesBmentB committed to the Collector for the
financial year beginning May 1, 1890, not including Cochitaate
and Mystic water rates; amount to $12,220,946.72. Of this
amount there has been to December 31, 1890, $10,120,429.57 col-
lected; $85,505.36 abated, and $2,015,011.79 remains uncol-
lected. This includes the State, City, and County taxes, $10,-
996,923.15, of which $8,980,135.32 has been paid, $70,698.81

28 APPENDIX.

abated; leaving $1,946,089.02 unpaid, and the Bank tax, $891,-
812.80, all of which has been paid.

The Cochituate water rates, assessed on the first of January,
1890, and additional and meter rates assessed during the year,
amount to $1,476,287.38. There has been paid of these assess-
ments $1,228,627.01; abated, $79,015.061 ; eaving $168,645.31
uncollected. The Mystic water rates for the same time stand as
follows : Assessed, $336,904.76 ; paid, $307,651.61 ; abated $28,-
532.94; unpaid, $720.21.

The total receipts in money from all sources from May 1, 1890,
to December 31, 1890, both inclusive, amount to $18,325,109.38.

A general Bummnry of the ftccounts shows that the balance
of bills and assessments ontstanding January 1, 1890,
was $2,610,821 66

The assessments from January 1, 1890, to December 81,

1890 14,208,989 15

Cash deposits from January 1, 1890, to December 81, 1890, 2,499,090 43.

Total amount charged to Collector $19,318,901 24

The Collector is credited with abatements . $612,728 62

Cash paid City Treasurer .... 15,958,060 89

16,565,784 01

Balance uncollected $2,758,117 28

The amount appropriated for the expenses of the department
was $71,410. The amount expended to date, $55,652.84, leav-
ing a balance unexpended of $15,757.16, sufficient to continue
the work to the dose of the financial year.

Bespectfully,

Jambs W. Rickeb,

City CoUectar.

APPENDIX.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

Cut Treasxtber's Opmcb, January 1, 1891.
To tJie Mayor.

Sm: — The undersigned herewith presents a statement, in
compliance with youi* request of December 20, 1890, of the
receipts and payments of the City of Boston and County of
Suffolk for the year 1890, beginning January 1, 1890, end-
ing December 81, 1890, showing the balance of money remaining
in the Treasury December 31, 1890, and where deposited, and
of the other matters referred to in your communication.

Respectfully,

Alfred T. Turner,

City Treasurer.

STATEMENT.
For the Tear 1890,

Oiuih 'RftlAnftA. tTannArv 1. 1800 . .....

$4,400,651 82

Rbobipts.

From City Ck>Ue«tor :>~

On acooant of Olty of Boston . .

$16,700,630 88

On aoeonnt of County of Suffolk .

219,282 37

$16,979,802 70

Temporary Loans : —

A ntlH nation of Taxes. 1890. &M ■ . •

1,500,000 00

^ City Loans :~

Miscellaneous Purposes, 8ij(

$1,037,000 00

PubUo Park Lands, S|)(

000,000 00

Public Park Construction, 4i( . . . .

600,000 00

New Public Library Building, Dart-
month street. 44 ..••■....

811,000 00

Miscellaneous Purposes, 4^

1,244,000 00

Public Park, Charleetown District, 4)(,

200,000 00

8,892,000 00

Carried forward

$21,871,802 70

$4,400,051 82

APPENDIX.

Mrouoht fbrtDard .....a.^.a

$21,871,802 70

$4,400,061 81

Coehitnate Waler Loans : —

TTIffli R<irvlA«. SM

$200,000 00
20,000 00

■

Szteoslon of Mains, efee.»Sj(j(. . . • • •

Sztenaion of Mains, ete., 4^

250,000 00

Additional Supply of Water, 4)t . . . .

800,000 00

770,000 00

Snflolk Coanty Loans : —

Suffolk County Gonrt-Honse. 8M • . • •

800,000 00

Premium on Loans negotiated : —

Oitv TiOans ..■..■■■■.....

$06,006 04
87,700 00

Oochitnate Water Loans

OonntT TiOans ..«>■...>■..•

9,408 00

142,719 04

Public Library Tmst Fnnds : —

Beauest of Josenh SchoUleld • • • • •

11,780 07

Board of Commissioners of Sinking-
Fnnds: —

■

Vot navment of debt .......a.

$1,190,880 08
909 84

For cost of Redemption of Sterling Debt,

110 41

1,101,400 28

Pay.Eoll Tailings from Paymasters, Settle-
mento with Cashier, parties unpaid
on; —

City account »....*■*••.

$80,110 70
712 71

Conntv account ..aa*.....

80,820 41

107 00

120,270 79

Tax Titles, received from owners to
secure estates sold for taxes

Interest on Bank Deposits ,,,»,»,,

24,448,082 49

$28,848,734 31

PATmHTB.

On account of the City of Boston :—

On Mayor's Drafto : —

General Drafts •

*$0,878,812 02

Oarrisd fonDord

$0,078,821 02

* Amount of General Drafts through City Auditor's Office,

from Jan. 1, 1800 ■«••••••.••••• $6,686,100 17

Less : Amount not paid Dec. 81, 1800 8,482 81

Add : Outstanding Dec. 81, 1880, paid

$6,077,688 86
687 66

$6,678,821 02

APPENDIX.

Brought forward

Psy-RoUdnfU

BpeoUl Drftfts

Commonwealth of MMsaehosetU :—

Btate Tax, 1890

National Bank Tazai, 1800 . . .

Liquor Lleenae Bevenne, 1880-00
<« •! fi 180<^1

Armory Loan Afloeaament . . . .

Board of Commiiaionera of Blnking-
Fnnda: —
Serenue payable nnder authority of
Ordinance on Finance

Premium on Loans negotiated

Pay-Boll Tallinge, paymenta by Caahler
to parties not paid by Paymaatera . • .

Pnblic Library Tmet Fnndi

Police Charitable Fnnd

Bowdoin (Dorcheiter) School Fond . .
Mount Hope Cemetery Tmat Fond . .
City Debt due prior to May 1, 1800 . . .

Old Chdms, Mayor** Drafto

Sewer Aiaeaamettta refunded

Protested Sewer Aaseaaments refunded
Taxes, etc., refunded ...••....
Oochituate Water Rates refunded . . •
Tuition of Non-Residents refunded . •
Carried forwani

0,678,891 OS

•0,028,086 8s

6,218,416 21

$646,767 60

684,070 40

827 16

262,826 00

720 76

28,066 27

$48,284 70
108,108 74

1 10,844,898 66

1,612,686 07

241,888 68

20,806 14

21,800 00

0,600 00

4,600 00

8,000 00

620 27

8,065 84

407 44

042 88

1,281 08

119 40

$21,777,720 25

*Pay-Roll Drafts through City Auditor's Office, from Jan. 1,
1800
Less:Not'paldi>ec'8i,'l»o' '•!!!'.! '. *.!!!'.! *. '. !

$6,088,528 80
88,807 87

Add : Outstanding Dec 81, 1800

$6,800,716 02
28,870 81

$6,023,086 88

tlndudes City Debt paid

Temporary Loans «

Mystic Water Debt

Cost of redemption of Sterling Debt

$1,088,880 08

1,500,000 00

100,000 00

069 84

$2,680,840 87

t.Inoludes Interest paid : —

On City Debt

Coehltaate Water Debt
Mystic Water Debt . .

$1,570,168 28

767,359 88

42,207 50

$2,870,725 16

APPENDIX.

Stouaht fonoard ••••..••••

$21,777,729 25

174 75

127 19

98 60

1,584 16

6 91

6 88

Myitte Water Rates refanded ..••..

Reeldae Tax Balee, etc •..

Tax Titles

Protested Twees refnnd<^ ...*.•.•

Psyments on acoonnt of Ooimty of
Baflolk: —

$21,779,522 74

Allowed by Auditor of Ooimty of Suf-
folk

•660,140 55
1 469,211 75

Mayor's Speelal DrafU

Pay.RoUTaiUnss, paymento by Cashier
to parties not psld by Paymasters .

841 94

Ck>imty Fines to Complainant . • t . •

286 50

Judgment for Costs of Bait, etc

28 72

County Fines, Award for Neglect to Sup-
port Wife and Children

20 00

Old Claims, Allowances of Auditor . .

6 75

Bounty for Destruction of Seals ....

800

1,129,984 21

t $22,909,506 96

$4,400,651 82

** Beoeipts on account of City of Boston

$28,418,729 41

•« " •* " County of Suffolk

1,029,858 08

24,448,062 49

$28,848,784 81

Payments on account of City of Boston •

$21,779,522 74
1,129,984 21

" " " ** County of Suffolk.

22,909,606 95

Cash b^anAA. TIac. 81, 1800 , .

$5,989,227 86

• County Requisitions throng County Auditor's Oflice from Jan. 1, 1890
Less : Amount not paid Dec. 81, 1890

. $660,065 51
427 80

Add : Outstanding Deo. 81, 1880, paid

$659,688 21
602 84

•Includes County Debt paid

t Includes Interest paid on County Debt

$660.140 55

$17,000 00
$105,217 88

APPjeSPIX-

Balance December 31, 1890, as per preceding statementa,
as follows : —

Atlantic National BazA

AtlasNatlonal Bank

Blackstone National Bank

Boston National Bank

Broadway National Bank

Banker HIU National Bank

Central National Bank

Columbian National Bank

Commercial National Bank

Continental National Bank •

Everett National Bank

Fanenil Hall National Bank

First National Bank

First Ward Natloaal Bank

Fourth National Bank

Freeman's National Baak i

Hamilton National Bank

Lincoln NatloB«l Bank

Manufacturers* National Bank

Market National Bank

M^faachnsetts National Bank

Maverick National Bank

Mechanics* National Bank

Monument National Bank . . . j , . . , ..

Mount Vernon National Bank

National Bank of the Commonwealth . . .

National Bank of North America . . . . <

National City Bank

National Bagle Bank ,

National Exchange Bank ,

National Hide and Leather Bank

National Market Bank of Brighton ....

National Rockland Bank ,

National Security Bank

National Union Bank

Carried forward

J • » •

$100,864 80
160,388 28
100,364 M
100,864 80

60,180 16
100,871 80
»M),a71 28 *
100,818 «7

86,068 48
100,868 01

75,101 00
100,264 80

100,880 ai
80,aja6 04

100«8A6 68

»»,2tl(6 68

100,281 92

T6/800 00

76,184 93

100,246 57

100,238 ^ ',

76,172 60

60,162 74

60,136 64

60,162 08

100,246 68

100,246 58

100,246 68

100,225 00

100,230 18

200,460 82

60,133 86

76,197 27

75,212 67

100,218 60

$3,162,823 48

APPENDIX.

Brought forward

National Webflter Bank

New England National Bank

North National Bank

Old Boston National Bank

People*! National Bank

Second National Bank

Bhawmnt National Bank

Third National Bank •

Traden National Bank

Tremont National Bank

Globe National Bank

Howard National Bank

National Bank of Bedemption

National Bank of the Republic

National Revere Bank

National Seenrlty Bank, Pay-roll Tailings account . .

Caah deposited In Banks

Cash and Cash Tonchers In office, Including payments
made on January, 1891, draft •

$3,102,823 43 \
100,230 11 '

. 100,164 38
100,280 IS
1004280 14
76,200 20
200,400 28
100,280 18
100,268 04
60,140 00
100,216 58

$4,200,104 61

263,062 24
304,768 86
278,101 68
616,706 07
191,410 86
7,977 69

$6,866,111 88
88,116 97

$6,939,227 86

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY 4, 1892.

►

BOSTON :
Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

I 892 .

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY 4, 1892.

BOSTON :
Rockwell and Churchill, City Pruttbrs.

I 892.

CITY OF BOSTON.

In Boabd of Aldebmen,

January 4, 1892.

Ordered^ That His Honor the Mayor be requested to ^ i

furnish the City Council with a copy of his inaugural
address for publication.

Passed. Sent down for concurrence. January 4, came

up concurred.

A true copy.

Attest:

John M. Galyin,

OUy OlerJc.

ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the City Council of 1892:

The chief ftmction of the City Council, as the
legislative branch of the City Government, is to
determine the amounts of money which the exec-
utive departments shall be authorized to ^expend
during the year, and the manner in which the
money shall be raised. The exact financial con-
dition of the city should, therefore, be carefully
considered at the outset of your deliberations.

THE CITY DEBT.

Tables hereto appended give the history of our
city debt since 1822, and show an increase at
times and in the aggregate wholly disproportionate
to the benefits obtained, viewed from the stand-
point of to-day.

"While few will criticise the use of the city's
credit to procure money for systematic and well-
considered improvements, — such, for example, as
our Park, Improved Sewerage, and Water sys-
tems, — no one who looks carefully over the list

4 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

of objects for which the city has issued loans
since its incorporation in 1822, aggregating over
$100,000,000, can escape the conclusion that a
large part of the money has been borrowed im-
providently and expended injudiciously. These
loans and the resulting present indebtedness of
the city are not only excessive in respect to the
number of citizens and their aggregate wealth,
but seem also out of proportion to the value, to
the present and succeeding generations, of the
improvements in which the money has been sunk.

Eealizing the unportance of these consider-
ations, the City Government of 1891 borrowed
only $2,716,500, and the net debt was reduced
during the year by $350,138.64, or from $31,-
053,496.98 to $30,703,358.34.

The policy of permitting no increase in the
net city debt, and of borrowing nothing for cm-
rent expenses, thus inaugurated, was deliberately
made the platform of the successful party at the
last municipal election ; and the verdict of the
citizens on that occasion cannot be regarded
otherwise than as an emphatic demand on their
part for a continuance of that policy.

Owing to the change in the fiscal year, which
hereafter will begin on February 1, and to the
law of 1891 (chapter 93), which permits the city

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 5

to issue loans at any time for all the money
which it proposes to borrow within the debt limit
during the year, you will be called upon at once
to consider not only the distribution of the cit/s
income among the several departments in such
manner as to maintain their present standard of
eflSiciency, but also to devise the ways and means
by which all really necessary public improve-
ments can be undertaken without increasing
the net debt of the city beyond the amount
at which it stood on Jan. 1, 1891. The subject
should be handled not merely from the stand-
point of this year's financial possibilities, but as
an annually recurring proT>lem, not to be solved
in any one year at the expense of the finances
of the next.

I have prepared with some care a table showing
the amount expended on special appropriations
for what may be termed permanent* improvements
during the past five years, the amount estimated
by the principal departments and myself as proper
to be raised for such purposes during the next
five years, the unexpended balances of special
appropriations now on hand, and an estimate of
the fresh money needed for these purposes during
the year 1892.

SaSiSSIS&^SSSSE; 3SS83E i :S

3SS

;ii»;Hi;ii;i

~r"sr=!iS3sss3 itaS'si -ST

ii;lilili;llil|

"■Si

p;lP:i|lll|l:P

SJSSS8"S52!3 = 3 OSSSSSS

ill

MAYOB'S ADDBESS. 7

The total amount which it will be reasonably
necessary to expend for permanent improvements
during the next five years I estimate at $21,181,-
532.07, an amount larger by about $3,861,970.85
than the expenditures during the five years just
passed. Of this sum the unexpended balances now
on hand amount to $3,101,532.07, including $187,500
(see Appendix B), which is unavailable for the pur-
poses to which it is now appropriated, and which
should be transferred to other and more desirable
objects. Applying this $187,500 as suggested, the
amount of fresh money to be provided during the
next five years is $17,892,500 ; while our resources
will be something as follows: —

Amount that can be borrowed without increas-
ing the net debt of the city above $31,-
058,496.98 (the amount at which it stood
Dec. 31, 1890) $14,700,000

Sales of city property, including the Public
Library site on Boylston street, school-houses
to be surrendered, etc. • • . . . 2,150,000

From the tax levy 1,000,000

$17,850,000

This calculation indicates that there should be
little difficulty in providing all the money rea-
sonably required for ordinary improvements during

8 MATOB'S ADDRESS.

the next five years without an increase in the
net debt of the city. Moneys required under
the new street-construction law (St. 1891, ch.
323) are excluded from this computation, as
these loans are to be repaid by the abutters and
not by the taxpayers generally, and are to be
secured by a first lien upon the estates bene-
fited; and no account has been taken of cer-
tain extensive street widenings which should be
undertaken in the immediate future, but the cost
of which should be defrayed by the adoption of
new financial methods which will be explained
more in detail hereafter.

The desired result can be realized, however, only
by restricting the use of the city's credit to such
improvements as are of admitted necessity, by
borrowing no more in any one year than can be
expended in the same, by practising a rigid and
business-like economy in all the departments of
the City Government, and by efiecting certain
changes and reforms in the financial policy of the
city.

PBKMANBNT IMPROVEMENTS FOB 1892.

Passing to the application of those principles to
the immediate finances of the current year, I esti-
mate that we can secure for permanent improve-

v:>

MAYOB'S ADBBESS. 9

ments in 1892, without an increase in the net
debt, $3,337,500, as follows : —

Transfers, as above $187,500 00

Sales of city property ..... 150,000 00
Amount that can be borrowed without in-
creasing the net debt above $31,053,496.98, 3,000,000 00

Total $3,337,500 00

This sum exceeds by $196,500 the amount which
it seems to me necessary to raise during the year,
according to the table already given.

These estimates are presented merely as sug-
gestions of what is possible this year in the
way of permanent improvements without , increas-
ing the city debt. They embrace all those im-
provements demandmg in my judgment immediate
attention, and contemplate an appropriation of
$3,337,500, which, added to the $3,101,532.07 avail-
able from unexpended balances, will make a total
fund of $6,242,532.07 for expenditure on permanent
improvements during the year. This sum is
certainly all that can be profitably spent in the
course of a single year; the expenditures on
special appropriations having been $3,304,530.99
in 1890 and $5,029,607.32 in 1891.

Authority now exists to borrow a considera^

HATOB'8 ADDBESS.

ble part of the f3,000,000 which it seems to
me should be raised during the year, as fol-
lows : —

LOANS AUTHORIZED BUT NOT ISSUED JAN. 4, 1892 (EXCLU-
SIVE OF LOANS UNDER ST. 1891, CH. 828).

Datb ov Obdeb.

Nov. 18, 1880' • . .
Mmj 20, 1801 . . .
Cot. 26, 1891 . . .
Oet. 24, 1801 . . .
Deo. 10, 1891 . . .
Dee. 24, 1891 . . .
Deo. 6, 1891 • . .
Jan. 2, 1802 . . .

Total

Objbgt of LoAjr.

Coohltaate Water, Additional Supply,

Parka

Bewera

Pablic Library

Commonwealth Avenue

Dorcbeater Avenue

L-8treet Bridge

City Hospital

AMomrr

AUTHOBIZXS.

$482,600
2,800,000
841,000
1,000,000
210,000
125,000
160,000
186,500

$6,235,000

AXOUHT

Nbbdxd iir

1892 IN AD-
dition to
Balaxoxs
ON Hand

January 1.

$185,000
900,000
841,000
250,000
210,000
125,000
100,000
50,000

$1,461,000

«;:>

That is to say, $1,461,000 of the $3,000,000
can be issued by executive order without further
action of the City Council. To issue the re-
maining $1,539,000 will require the action of the
City CounciL I would suggest the passage of
orders authorizing the issue of new loans as fol-
lows : —

MAYOR'S ADDBESS

NEW LOAN ORDERS RECOMMENDED.

OBnOT OT LOAK.

Cocbitnate Water— Eztenaion of Mains

Suffolk County Coart-Honse

Bchool-hotues and Sites

Public Forum

Improved Sewerage

Street Department, Paving Dlvlaion.
Alleton-etreet Bridge

ToUl

Amount to be
Authorized.

Amount to be
iMued in 1892..

^250,000 00

$190,000 00

248,210 09

150,000 00

600,000 00

479,000 OQ.

100,000 00

250,000 00

160,000 00!

415,000 00

65,000 00

$1,818,216 09

$1,539,000 00.

These orders should be passed at once, if at
all, in order that all the loans for the year may
be issued at one time and in one sum. The best
price will thus be realized, and the departments
will be enabled to undertake the work pro-
vided for without delay.

The borrowing capacity of the city under the
debt-limit laws is now |5,208,152 less $972,500
authorized but not issued; that portion of the
$1,539,000 to be authorized this year which will
come within the debt limit is $1,199,000; and
the city will have left a borrowing capacity of
$3,036,652 to be drawn against only in case of
some unforeseen emergency.

JuOANS FOR OURREI^T EXPENSES.

Whatever justification might have been set up

12 MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

in the years immediately succeeding the passage
of the law limiting our taxes for municipal pur-
poses to $9 on the thousand for a practice to
which $1,333,4S9.30 of our present funded debt
is due, there would seem to-day to be no reason
for its continuance. The present operation of
the law not only brings in enough revenue for
the current expenses of the City Government,
economically administered, but should yield some-
thing in addition.

STREET WATERING.

The streets were watered in 1891, partly by
contractors paid by the householders directly,
and partly by the Street Department. This com-
bination seemed to give general satisfaction, ex-
cept to those citizens who wish to shift the
expense of laying the dust in front of their
premises over to the general public; and is, so
far as I can foresee, the system most likely to
satisfy the people at large during the coming
season.

To attempt to defray the entire cost of water-
ing the streets out of the tax levy would be a
financial task of great difficulty at the outset;
and the embarrassment would increase from year
to year owing to the clamor for extensions of

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 13

the system, until finally we should find ourselves
burdened with the obligation to water every
street within the city limits at an annual expen-
diture of half a million dollars. No such in-
crease in expenditures will be possible upon the
present basis of taxation without a relapse to
the practice of borrowing money for current ex-
penses.

Moreover, the main benefit of street watering
enures to the individual householder ; and it is
therefore more just and proper that he, as the
person chiefly interested, should pay the whole,
or at least a large part, of the cost of water-
ing the street in front of his house than that
the entire expense should fall upon the citizens
at large. One great error in our municipal
financiering has been that the cost of services
which in other large cities are paid for by the
persons directly benefited has in Boston been
defrayed out of the tax levy, thus shifting upon
the community the burden which properly belongs
to the individual. In my judgment no further
step should be taken in this direction, and it
would seem, both on principle and as a matter
of practical finance, that if the Superintendent of
Streets is to water the streets and charge the
expense to the appropriation for his department,

14 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

the department should be reimbursed by assessing
the whole or a part of the cost upon the estates
benefited, as provided by the new street-water-
ing law (St 1891, eh. 179). If it should be
found impracticable to devise an equitable system
of assessments under the provisions of this law,
and suitable amendments cannot be procured, the
ordinance recently passed by the City Council
(which became a law while I was prevented by
illness from giving the matter due consideration)
should be repealed and the Superintendent of
Streets directed to continue the method • adopted
this year.

OONSOLroATION OF DEPARTMENTS.

At the beginning of the year 1891 there were
thirty-eight executive departments responsible to
the Mayor. Four of these — namely, the Depart-
ments of Sewers, Bridges, Cambridge Bridges,
and Sanitary Police — were consolidated with the
Street Department early in the year, and the
Department for the Inspection of "Wires has been
placed in charge of the Board of Fire Com-
missioners; making the nimiber of present Execu-
tive departments thirty-three, exclusive of the
Mayor's office. The Board of Ferry Commis-
sioners has also been abolished and the manage-

MATOB'S ADDBESS. 15

ment of the East Boston ferries placed in charge
of a single superintendent.

These changes have met with the undoubted
approval of the citizens, and the process of
consolidation should be continued. The execu-
tive work of the city is still divided among too
many departments, and much friction and work
at cross-purposes is the result. A smaller num-
ber of departments will tend to harmony and
cooperation between them, to a concentration of
responsibility, and to economy in estimates and
expenditures.

Many of the thirty-three departments still exist-
ing were estabUshed under statute laws, and can-
not be altered or abolished without the sanction
of the Legislature. There are some, however,
which are the creation of the City Council, and
could with profit to the city, and without appli-
cation to the General Court, be abolished by the
present City Government.

The "Water-Income Department is of recent
creation. Its work is intimately connected with
that of the Collector's office, and is to some
extent duplicated thereby. On the other hand,
the successful management of the "Water-Supply
system, which forms a very considerable part of
our municipal work, depends largely upon a

16 MATOB'S ADDBESS.

thorough and economical collection of the water
revenues. I am satisfied that the best interests
of the city require that the work of collecting
the Cochituate and Mystic revenues should be
placed in charge of the Water Board.

The Improved Sewerage works are now being
constructed by the City Engineer; but both he
and the Superintendent of Streets are of the opin-
ion that it should be placed in charge of the lat-
ter, and managed in connection with the Sewer
Division of the Street Department.

The office of City Surveyor was separated from
that of City Engineer many years ago; for what
reason I have not been able to discover. The
work of the department is done partly for the Su-
perintendent of Streets, partly for the Board of
Street Commissioners, and occasionally for the
Law Department. I believe that better results
would be obtained if this office were again united
with that of the City Engineer.

The care of the City Hall was formerly in charge
of the Superintendent of Public Buildings, but was
taken away from him some years ago and given
to the City Messenger. I am informed that this
change has increased the expense, and I can see
no reason why the Superintendent of Public Build-
ings should not have charge of the City Hall as

f
%

MAYOR'S ADDBBSS. 17

well as of other city buildings, I recommend, ac-
cordingly, that the City Hall be replaced in his
charge.

THE CITY BEGOKDS.

The keeping of the general city records is
divided by the State laws and City ordinances
among the departments of City Clerk, City
Registrar, Board of Health, and Ancient Records.
There is a duplication in the collection of certain
records by the Board of Health and the City
Registrar. The records of births, marriages, and
deaths have not been kept to the satisfaction of
the lawyers and other persons who have occasion
to consult them; and there is a very general
demand for a complete reorganization of the work,
and for the compilation of an extensive system of
indices similar to that adopted by the Suffolk
Registry of Deeds.

I think that, eventually, when there shall be
sufficient space provided for the purpose in a
new City Hall, there should be one consolidated
department of City Records, which should have
charge of all the work now intrusted to the
four departments named; and that in the mean-
time the Department of Ancient Records should
be consolidated with the office of City Registrar
and placed in charge of some person competent

18 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

to undertake the work of classification and index-
ing referred to, with a sufficient annual appro-
priation to enable him to finish this particular
work within the next few years. In this manner
the vital statistics of the city, which have been
neglected for two centuries, can be put in con-
venient shape for reference.

The Legislature should also be requested to
abrogate those provisions of law which require
the City Registrar to gather statistics concerning
the causes of death, which are properly facts
for the Board of Health, and not for a city
record office, to collect.

TENURE OP OFFICE.

It is an anomaly that while members of boards
are appointed for three or five years, the principal
executive officers of the city are subject to
annual appointment. The chief heads of depart-
ments— such as the financial officers of the City
Government, the Superintendent of Streets, the
City Engineer, and possibly some others — should
be appointed for a term of at least three years.

THE BOARD OF POLICE.

The relations between the citizens and the Board
of Police continue to be unsatisfactory. During

'^i

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 19

the past year I have been in almost daily receipt
of oral or written communications complaining of
one thing or another within the jurisdiction of the
Board of Police. The complaints are generally of
violations of city ordinances relating to the use
of streets.

While not desiring to suggest that the Board
has been wilfully negligent of its duties in this
behalf, it is nevertheless a fact that these com-
plaints are in the main well founded, and that
the Mayor, who to the popular mind is respon-
sible for everything that goes wrong, has no
control whatever over the department whose duty
it is to enforce these ordinances. No one is ni
fact responsible but the Board of Police ; and
they in turn are responsible to no one. The system
is radically wrong, and is becoming more and
more exasperating to the citizens from year to
year.

"While recognizing to the fullest extent the
inadvisability of vesting the power of granting
liquor licenses in the elective officers of the City
Government or their appointees, I am neverthe-
less convinced that it will be practically impos-
sible to keep the streets of the city any cleaner
than they are at present, or to prevent the daily
violations of the ordinances relating to their use.

20 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

until the control of the police force of the city
is returned to the municipal authorities, and that
force made one of the regular departments of
the City Government, to be placed in charge of
some person directly responsible to the Mayor,
and through him to the people.

CITY BOOKKKBPINa.

TSo one having occasion to investigate our
system of finances or to seek information con-
cerning the management of any of the depart-
ments can fail to reach the conclusion that the
manner of keeping the books has been extremely
faulty. The Auditor's report is made up on one
plan ; the annual department reports have been
compiled each upon a different plan, and all dif-
ferent from that of the City Auditor ; and the
department estimates again have been made up
upon a theory different from that which governs
the compilation of the City Auditor's report and
from that of the annual reports of the departments
themselves. The time covered by these three
series of reports has also been different, — the
estimates and the Auditor's report being for the
fiscal year, and the annual department reports for
the calendar year. In addition to this lack of

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 21

harmony and system, there has been, in some
departments at least, an apparent attempt to
conceal the facts by generalizing and mystifying
accounts.

This condition of affairs has been remedied in
great part by the change in the fiscal year from
May to February, and by the recent ordinance
providing that the annual department reports
shall for the future cover the fiscal year from
February to February, rather than the calendar
year, as heretofore. In this way all three series
of reports — the estimates, the department reports,
and the Auditor's report at the close of the fiscal
year — will cover the same period of time.

In addition to these reforms effected by the
City Council of 1891, efforts have been made by
executive order to secure a more intelligible and
uniform system of bookkeeping in the principal
departments, and to have the estimates and re-
ports of these departments made up in such
manner as to disclose the facts that the public
desire to know, and more in conformity with the
system of bookkeeping adopted in the Auditor's
oflSce. It is to be hoped that the department
and other reports submitted during the present
year will show the effect of these efforts.

22 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

THE AKOHTTBOT DEPARTMENT.

The Architect's oflSce has been reorganized
and placed in competent hands, with the result
that the expenses of the department from May 1,
1891, to Dec. 31, 1891, have been $17,139.11,
while the disbursements for construction have
been $424,092.66. In other words, the cost of
maintaining the oflBlce since its reorganization
last May has been four per cent, of the ex-
penditures for construction, as against ten per
cent, for the period between May 1, 1889, and
May 1, 1891; and there is every prospect that
the percentage for the next twelve months will
be still less.

SALES OF CITY PROPERTY.

The sale of an estate on Federal street early
in the year for a sum considerably less than the
assessed value of the land induced me to look
into the results of the practice then in vogue of
selling city property at auction without an upset
price. I found that from Jan. 1, 1887, to and
including the date of this sale on Federal street,
city property valued at $474,522.50 had been
sold for $346,435.83, a loss of $128,086.67 (or
27 per cent.) on the assessed valuation.

It did not seem possible to account for this

MAYOB'S ADDRESS. 23

loss of 27 per cent, by reason of the overvalu-
ations above referred to, and I found it to be
the general belief that city property did not
bring what it should when sold at public auc-
tion. A new system was accordingly adopted,
and all city property sold since the Federal-
street sale has been put up for public competi-
tion, but not at auction. Substantially the method
followed by the City Treasurer in placing bonds
upon the market has been followed; and it has
been found that this method of advertising prop-
erty, with an upset price stated in the advertise-
ment, produces good results, all three of the
estates sold in this manner having brought more
than the assessed valuation, and in one instance
almost double. I would respectfully renew my
recommendation to the last City Council that an
ordinance be passed providing that all sales of
city property should be conducted in this manner.

A NEW CITY HAIiL.

It is obvious that the question of procuring
enlarged accommodations for the city departments
cannot be postponed much longer. I assume
that the citizens do not wish to have the City
Hall removed to the Public Garden, or to any
of the numerous sites in that section of the city

24 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

which have been suggested, but prefer that it
should remain easy of access to the business and
professional community. The only alternatives,
then, are to remodel the present City Hall in
connection with a new building to be erected on
the site of the old Court-House, when that shall
be surrendered, or to secure a site in the im-
mediate vicinity of the City Hall, and erect an
entirely new building thereon.

The result of the best thought that I have
been able to give to the matter is that to
make a convenient and fire-proof building out
of the present City Hall, enlarged as suggested,
would cost over a million dollars; that when com-
pleted, although there would probably be room
enough to accommodate the present needs of the
city departments, there would be little space, if
any, to allow for their growth; and that the
necessity for an entirely new and larger building
would simply be postponed, to revive after the
expiration of ten or twenty years.

In company with the City Architect I have
looked over all the property in the vicinity of the
present City Hall, and have reached the conclu-
sion that by far the most available site for the
purpose of a new City Hall is the lot bounded
by Beacon street, Somerset street, Ashburton

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 25

place, and Bowdoin street. This lot contains
about 90,000 feet, and would allow for the widen-
ing of the four streets named, and leave a space
for the erection of a City Hall large enough to
accommodate the present and future needs of the
city for generations to come. The assessed value
of this property, land and buildings, is about half
a million dollars less than the estimate placed by
the Assessors upon the land now occupied by the
City Hall and the old Court-House ; which would
therefore be reasonably certain to produce as
much money as would be required to procure the
property on Beacon street.

The Commonwealth should be willing to co-
operate with the city in this project to the extent
of laying out the strip between Bowdoin and Mt.
Vernon streets— part of which it now owns —
as a public square. In the execution of the plan
the entire crown of the hill could be levelled,
existing streets widened, and the whole section
very much improved for public use.

The City Architect estimates the cost of a build-
ing covering 50,000 square feet, and so arranged
as to be capable of extension in the future, at
$2,000,000. It seems to me that this solution
of the problem is by far the most economical
in the long run, and the only one which will

26 MATOB'8 ADDBE8S.

give to the several departments of, the City
Government the present and future accommoda-
tions which they and the public are interested
in securing ; and I respectfully commend this
suggestion to the consideration of the City Coun-
cil. It is not likely that the old Court-House
will be surrendered to the city before the middle
or the close of 1893, and if the suggestion of a new
building on the site named meets with the ap-
proval of the City Council, steps should be taken
in the meantime to secure the necessary legisla-
tion, and to perfect the plans and specifications.

STREET IMPROVEMENTS.

The work of platting the streets in the out-
lying sections of the city, authorized by chapter
323 of the Acts of 1891, has been pushed by
the Board of Survey with great thoroughness,
and, so far as I can ascertain, to the satisfaction
of everybody except those individuals who not
only wish the privilege of laying out their land
as they please, regardless of the interests of the
community as a whole, but expect the city to
reimburse to them the cost of their own selfish
plans. Two plats of large areas have already
been completed, and it is expected that before
the expiration of a year from the appointment of

..^

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 27

the Board at least one-third of the work laid
out for them will have been accomplished, thus
making it probable that the entire work will be
finished within the three years specified in the
act.

The operations of the Board of Street Commis-
sioners are not controlled by the City Council or
the Mayor, except when they involve the imme-
diate expenditure of money. The result has been
the laying out and acceptance, as public highways,
of miles and miles of streets, designed by private
individuals for their own personal benefit, without
regard to the general welfare; and the fact that
these private ways have been made public streets
has necessitated in the end an enormous expendi-
ture of public money, the greater part of which
can have produced no equivalent public benefit.

When the act creating the Board of Street
Commissioners was passed fears were expressed
ofr the consequences of vesting in this irrespon-
sible board the arbitrary power to lay out
streets. These fears have been justified by the
results ; for a very large part of the money spent
upon street improvements — amounting in the
aggregate for damages and construction to over
$50,000,000 — is directly traceable to the injudi-
cious use made by the Board of Street Com-

28 MATOB'S ADDRESS.

missioners of the extraordiDaiy powers given them.
In addition to the enormous sums already spent
upon street constiniction and improvements, largely
for the benefit of private individuals, the neces-
sity of spending equally large sums in the
future will arise unless something is done to
control the reckless acceptance of private ways
as public streets. There are to-day 22.43 miles
of uncompleted private ways which have been
accepted by the Board as streets, and which the
citizens will in the near future be called upon
to finish at the public expense.

The creation of the Board of Survey was, un-
doubtedly, a step in the right direction, and
when its work is completed the danger from this
source will in great measure cease ; but in the
meantime I am convinced that the City Govern-
ment should have some control over the acts of
the Board of Street Commissioners, and I recom-
mend petitioning the Legislature for a law which
shall make all acts of the Board subject to the
approval of the Board of Aldermen and Mayor.
In this way the work of the Street Commissioners
can be made to harmonize with that of the Board
of Survey, a result which it has been found im-
possible to accomplish during the year just passed ;
and the enormous expenditures ultimately entailed

MAYOB'S ADDBESS. 29

upon the city by the power of the Street Commis-
sioners to convert unfinished private ways into
public streets will be curtailed if not altogether
stopped.

CONSTITUTIONAIi AMENDMENT.

The amount spent for street widenings and
changes of grade since the incorporation of the
city has been nearly $40,000,000; and yet no one
would claim that the citizens to-day enjoy the
benefit of this expenditure in convenient streets,
or deny that if the growth of the city is to

^ be maintained and its prosperity for the future as-

sured, a radical and extensive system of street
widenings must be undertaken. It would be use-
less to expect to defray the great cost of these
improvements in the manner now provided by law,
— that is to say, entirely at the expense of the
public, saving the comparatively small amounts that
could be realized in betterments, — and it is evi-

y dent that, unless some new financial methods can

be devised, the citizens will be obliged to forego
the benefits of these improvements.

Such methods are employed in foreign coun-
tries, where still greater street widenings have
been undertaken with little or no expense to the
municipality, by virtue of the power to condemn

30 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Dot only the property that is to be turned into
the highway, but also the adjacent and neighbor-
ing estates which will be benefited by the oper-
ation. It is understood that a large part of the
extensive street widenings undertaken in London
and Paris have in this manner been secured
without ex}>ense, owing to the fact that the in-
creased value of the property bounding on the
new thoroughfare more than equalled the cost of
that which was turned into it.

Realizing the necessity for adopting some such
method for our future street and park improve-
ments, T recommended consideration of the subject
in my inaugural of last year; and the Board
of Aldermen of 1891 authorized me to petition
the Legislature for an amendment to the consti-
tution granting, under proper restrictions, to towns
and cities and their duly constituted officers
and boards, the power to condemn all the prop-
erty that may be financially necessary to the
success of street-widening operations. It is ear-
nestly to be hoped that the Legislature will see
the wisdom of this reform ; and I should rec-
ommend the postponement of all extensive street
widenings until authority has been obtained to
conduct them in this manner. With these powers
vested in the City Government it will be possi-

MAYOB'S ADDRESS. 31

ble to open several new and wide thoroughfares
through the older portions of the city substan-
tially without cost to the citizens, and to the
great advantage not only of the people of this
city, but of all the surrounding towns whose
inhabitants have occasion to use our streets. It
is obvious, moreover, that extensive street widen-
ings and improved bridge connections for street
and railway travel over the tide waters surround-
ing the city proper are necessary before rapid
transit across the city can be secured. The en-
tire interests of the community, therefore, demand
the enactment of those laws by which alone these
improvements can be obtained.

BEFORMS IN TAXATION.

While it would be useless to hope for any radi-
cal change at present in the burdensome system
of taxation which the statutes of the Common-
wealth and the decisions of the Supreme Judicial
Court have imposed upon the people, there are
nevertheless one or two particular reforms which
should be urged upon the Legislature for immedi-
ate adoption. Perhaps the fact that the gentleman
who for many years has been conspicuous before
the committees of the Legislature as an earnest
and able advocate of every form of double taxa-

32 MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

tion received at the last State election only 1,772
votes, or about one-half of one per cent, of the
total vote for Governor, may lead the members
of the General Court to realize that there is less
popular interest in the demand for taxing certain
kinds of property twice over than has been
represented in the past.

THE TAX ON STBBET RAILWATS.

One of these special reforms is a change in
the corporation law which will permit towns and
cities having street railways within their limits
to tax locally the rails and sleepers maintained
by these corporations in the public highways.
The present law permits local taxation of the
plants of gas and electric light companies, but
prevents the city from taxing the plant of street-
railway corporations. The corporations of course
pay the tax all the same, but they pay it to the
wrong persons. It is distributed among the va-
rious cities and towns in proportion to the amount
of stock held by the citizens thereof; and the
practical result is that a very large part of the
tax collected from street-railway companies, and
deducted from the gross receipts earned in the
towns and cities where their tracks are operated,
is diverted from the treasuries of these localities

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 33

and bestowed as an unearned gratuity upon other
towns and cities. The net gain to the city of
Boston by abolishing this law and assimilating
the street-railway corporations to gas and elec-
tric light companies would, after making due
allowance for the fact that the city pays over
one-third of the entire State tax, amount to nearly
^100,000 this year, and to still more in the future.

MUNICIPAL BONDS-

Another change in our tax laws, for which
special reasons can be alleged apart from the
general theory, is the exemption of municipal
bonds from taxation. The total amount realized
by the city of Boston from the right to include
in the aggregate taxable property of the city
the bonds issued by the various cities and towns
of the Commonwealth is less than $20,000 a
year; while, on the other hand, the city is obliged,
by reason of this law, to pay a rate of interest on
its funded debt higher, by at least one-half of
one per cent., than it would if its bonds were
exempt from taxation. That this statement is no
exaggeration is shown from the fact that other
cities, whose bonds are totally or partially exempt
from taxation, are enabled to borrow money at

34: MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

three or three and a half per cent, when the city
of Boston is paying four. Thus the last issue
of bonds by the city of "New York was a three
per cent, loan, having 17 years to run, and
brought something over par; city of Brooklyn
48, having 20 years to run, have recently been
sold at a premium of four per cent.; the city of
Philadelphia has sold its latest issue of 3s,
having 10 and 30 years to run, at par; and the
last issue of bonds by the city of Baltimore
was of three and a half per cents, which were
placed at par. All these bonds are exempt from
taxation, at least for municipal purposes, and the
price that they brought in the market may be
contrasted with the fact that the last issue of
bonds by the city of Boston was of 30-year four
per cents, which commanded a premium of only
one and a half per cent. It cannot, therefore, be
doubted that if the bonds of the cities and towns
situated within the Commonwealth were exempt
from taxation, the city of Boston would reap
the benefit of at least one-half of one per cent,
in the rate of interest on its funded debt. This
would result in a saving to the city in interest
of from 115,000 to |20,000 the first year, and
thereafter increasing in arithmetical ratio, until
before 20 years have elapsed the saving in the

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 35

annual interest account would amount to several'
hundred thousand dollars.

A collateral, but perhaps even more important^
result of the exemption of municipal bonds from
taxation would be that they would furnish a safe
and profitable investment for the savings of the
people, and could probably be issued in the form^
of popular loans of small amount. I can con^-
ceive of no greater influence working for a con-
servative management of our city finances than
a wide-spread distribution of the city's funded
debt among its own citizens.

It is earnestly to be hoped that the Legislature
will grant the petition of the last City Govern-
ment for an amendment to our tax laws which
shall permit us to reap the great benefits of an
exemption of municipal bonds from taxation.

TAXES VS. ASSESSMENTS.

It cannot be too frequently brought to the
attention of our citizens that the chief reason for
the inordinately heavy taxes paid by them in com-
parison with the residents of other large cities in
this country is to be found in the fact that a
large part of the municipal work, which in other
cities is reimbursed to the municipality by means

36 MAYOB'S ADDB£SS.

of assessments levied upon the individuals immedi-
ately benefited, is in Boston paid out of the gen-
eral tax levy ; and in the further fact that
innumerable special privileges are given away in
Boston, which in other places are made the sources
of considerable revenue.

The cost of furnishing householders and builders
with sewers, water-pipes, sidewalks, and other ac-
commodations in the streets, which in most of the
other large cities in the country is borne — in some
cases altogether, and in other cases in great part —
by the individuals benefited, is defrayed in Boston
almost entirely out of the tax levy. Thus, during
the five fiscal years ending April 30, 1891, there
was paid out in damages for extending and widen-
ing streets and changing their grade, $1,593,153.05,
while the amount received in betterments was only
f 131,177.34, or about eight per cent, of the outlay.
The total expenditures for sewer construction and
repairs during this period amounted to $3,904,167.31,
while the amount received in sewer assessments
was only $402,708.67, or about ten per cent, of
the cost to the city; and under the operation of the
present sewer-assessment law the percentage is
rapidly falling. The amount paid for street con-
struction and repairs during the same period was
$5,052,367.29, while the amount received in assess-

i
i

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 37

ments was only $84,767.68, or about one and a half
per cent. The consumers of water have profited
at the expense of the citizens at large to the
extent of $2,332,969.17 collected of the various
city departments since 1853 in special charges
which have been made good out of the general tax
levy; to the extent of about $230,000 deducted
from the water bills in 1886, 1890, and 1891; by
several reductions in the schedule and meter rates
during the past ten years ; by the practice of putting
in house connections without charge; by expensive
extensions for fire purposes from which no revenue
whatever is derived; and by about $2,000,000 ex-
pended in ordinary pipe extensions; all of which
work has been charged to construction and paid
for by loans rather than taken, as a more correct
financial policy would have dictated, from the in-
come of the department.

These figures explain more plainly than any
general assertion why the net debt of the city has
increased so fast, and prepare us for the figures
of the United States census of 1890, showing a
greater annual per capita expenditure for the
city of Boston than for any other large city in
the country. In Baltimore the rate was only
$17.91, in Brooklyn $20.88, in Chicago $16.73, in
Cincinnati $21.74, in Philadelphia $18.95, in St.

38 MAYOR'S ADDBES8.

Louis $13.74, and in San Francisco f 18.86 ; while
in Boston it was $35.94.

There can be no question that the burden of
taxation is greater in Boston than in any of the
other chief cities of this country, and probably
greater than in any other large community in
civilization.

The remedy is not far to seek : it consists
in restricting the amount of work done for the
benefit of individuals at the expense of the citi-
zens at large, and charging to the former their
just proportion of the cost.

RELATIONS WITH THE OOMMONWEAIiTH.

The Legislature of 1891 refrained from passing
any laws against the expressed opposition of the
City Government, and enacted an unusually large
number of measures at the request of the City
Council. It is to be hoped that the action of the
Legislature of 1892 towards the city will be con-
trolled by the same desire to interfere with our
local affairs only when such interference is gener-
ally demanded, and on the other hand to grant all
reasonable requests preferred by the municipal
authorities. It is pleasant to be able to recognize
a growing sentiment at the State House and else-
where in favor of increasing the limited control

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 39

over its own affairs now enjoyed by the city of
Boston ; and it is to be hoped that not many
years will elapse before the city will secure those
extensive powers of self-government which have
been so profitably exercised in foreign cities. r

The needs of the city and its surrounding
towns, considered in their metropolitan relations,
would seem to be a fit subject for State legislation
so long as the metropolitan area is divided into
difierent political communities; and the theory that
if the power of the Commonwealth is invoked to
interfere in the internal finances of the city for
the benefit of other towns there exists a correla-
tive obligation to help the city and these towns
by the use of the credit of the State, appears to
be gaining ground. The act creating the Metro-
politan Sewerage Commissioners is an illustration
of the proper exercise of the right of the Com-
monwealth to interfere in local affairs and, in
consideration of such interference, to loan its
credit to the several communities on which the
financial burden of the measure falls.

Another illustration is to be found in the laws
passed in 1891 creating special commissions for
the investigation of the problems growing out
of the need in Boston and vicinity of increased
transportation facilities, and out of the desirability

40 MAYOB'S ADDBESS.

of improving the Charles-river basin for the

benefit of the cities and towns bordering thereon.

A further application of this principle would

in my judgment be the creation of a Metropolitan

Park Commission, with authority to secure for

. park purposes, while there is yet time, various

desirable tracts of land in the vicinity of the

h city.

THE BALLOT LAW.

The recount of votes cast at the last munici-
pal election has disclosed errors in counting which
if not thoroughly investigated and corrected will
tend to discredit the Australian ballot system
and to retard the general adoption of what has
seemed to be one of the greatest electoral re-
forms of modem times.

There was no formal recount of votes for Mayor ;
but the gentlemen engaged in recounting the votes
for School Committee have publicly stated that they
examined the votes for Mayor in two precincts,
and that in both the vote had been correctly
counted, but incorrectly tabulated, so that one
candidate had been given 50 votes more and the
other 50 votes less than they were respectively
entitled to; making a net error for the two pre-
cincts of 200 votes. I am unwilling to believe

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 41

that these errors were due to anything but care-
lessness; but it is difficult to avoid the conclusion
that if an error of 200 votes is discovered in two
precincts out of 205, there must have been many
more in the remaining precincts; and that in a
close contest little reliance could be placed on
the ward • returns.

It has also been publicly stated by these gentle-
men that the returns by the ward officers for School
Committee were found to be correct in only 8 per
cent, of the precincts.

These statements demand immediate and serious
attention, and can only be verified by a complete
examination of all the ballots cast. Members of
the City Council or the Legislature can hardly be
expected to undertake this great labor, even if
permitted by law to do so; but there is a volun-
tary and non-partisan organization, known as
the ^^ Ballot Act League,'^ that might perhaps
be willing to undertake the work if given au-
thority.

I recommend to your consideration the expedi-
ency of requesting the Legislature to permit the
members of the Ballot Act League, or such other
organization ^or committee as may seem to you
preferable, to receive and examine all the ballots
cast at the recent city election, and make a full

42 MATOB'S ADDBESS.

report thereon, with such suggestions for amend-
ing the law as shall seem to them appropriate.
One of the collateral consequences of the par-
ticular form of the Australian ballot adopted in
Massachusetts is the encouragement afforded to
careless, inaccurate, and partial voting, especially
for the minor offices. That this is an evil
threatening to make a lottery out of an election
to an office for which there are many candidates,
and thus entirely to defeat the popular will, can
hardly be denied; but the remedy is difficult to
suggest, and one object to be gained by a careful
examination of the ballots cast at the last city
election might well be the discovery of the exact
causes of the evil, and the best means to mini-
mize it. ^

CONOLUSION.

In conclusion, gentlemen, let me express the
hope that the relations between the legislative and
executive branches of the City Government of 1892
will be as friendly and mutually helpful as in the
year just past.

Let me remind my party associates in the City
Council that the practice of making party nomi-
nations for municipal office, however objectionable
from certain standpoints, brings, or should bring,

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 43

with it the compensating advantage of a lively and
never-absent sense of party responsibility. To the
extent that questions of municipal policy can be
said to have been considered at the. last city elec-
tion, the verdict of the people on December 15th
can be interpreted only as a demand that the city
should live within its income, that there should be
no increase in its net indebtedness, and that its
money should be appropriated with a view to the
general welfare rather than to the claims of special
sections or of special interests; and you and I are
in honor bound to permit no departure from this
policy except in some great and unforeseen emer-
gency.

To the members of the City Council generally,
let me say that they will find that not one-tenth
of one per cent, of the questions that will come
before tliem for decision involve political or par-
tisan considerations ; and there should accord-
ingly be no difficulty in legislating for the city in
the same non-partisan spirit that inspired their
predecessors.

Let us all remember that, whether elected by
wards, by districts, or by the citizens at large, our
chief duty, as officers of the municipal corpora-
tion, is to administer the government in such man-
ner as to promote the best interests of the city as

44 MAYOB'S ADDBESS.

a whole; let us not mistake the clamor of those
special and selfish interests that besiege the City
Hall for the voice of the people; let us be ever
mindful that the wholesome light of public criti-
cism will shine on all our acts; and let us merit
the confidence of the people by furnishing a clean,
economical, and progressive administration of their
municipal affairs in 1892.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX A.

AUDITOR'S STATEMENT.

ciTT AMD comrrr debt.

GroBS funded debt, Dec. 81, 1890 . . • $55,440,861 06
Add funded debt issued in 1891 . . . 2,716,500 00

958,156,861 06
Deduct funded debt paid in 1891 . . . 1,914,115 16

Gross debt, Dec. 81, 1891 . • • . $56,242,745 90
Sinking-Funds, Dec. 81, 1890 . $24,888,140 14
Receipts during 1891 . . 8,084,677 90

$27,422,818 04
Payments during 1891 . . 1,908,886 46

$25,518,981 58
Bonds and mortgages, the pay-
ments of which are pledged
to the payment of debt . . 20,405 98

Total redemption means, Dec. 81, 1891 . 25,589,887 56

Net debt, Dec. 81, 1891 .... $80,708,858 84

46 APPENDIX.

Gross debt, Dec. 31, 1891 .... $56,242,745 90
Gross debt, Deo. 81, 1890 .... 55,440,361 06

Increase $802,384 84

Net debt, Dec. 31, 1890 $31,053,496 98

Net debt, Dec. 31, 1891 30,703,358 34

Decrease $350,138 64

City debt, indading balance of debts assumed

by acts of annexation $36,057,971 92

Ck>unty debt 3,212,000 00

Cochitaate water debt 16,423,773 98

Mystic water debt 549,000 00

$56,242,745 90

At the present time the assnmed debts (included in above)
remaining unpaid are on account of

Charlestown city

• • • .

$182,000 00

bearing 6%

Mystic water .

$148,000 00

" 6%

it C(

108,000 00

" 5%

it (4

18,000 00

" i%

<« <i

240,000 00

" H%

ii C4

•

35,000 00

549,000 00

" Hfc

$731,000 00

APPENDIX.

Loans Authobized bt Speoial Statutes Outside of Debt

LnaT OTHEB THAN FOB WaTEBt-WoBKS.

1886.
1887.
1887.
1887.
1887.
1887.
1888.
looll •
1889.
188».

1880.

1800.

1801.
1881.

Chap.

804.
101.

812.
804.
428.
802.
88.
254.
288.

822.

271 >
444)

801.

824.

823.

ObJeeL

Pablio Park CoDstniotl<»i . . .

Bollolk Oovnty Oonrt-HoaM •

Haryard Bridge

Public Park Landa

Sewer, Tremont at. ••••..

Stony Brook Improyement . .

pQbllc Park Landa

New Library Building • • . .

W. Oheeter-park Bxtanalon • .

Congresa-at. and Oliyer-at. Ez-
tenaion •

Improyed Sewerage

PnbUc Parka, Oharleatown . .

PubUoPark

New Library Building . . • •

Laying Out and Oonatraetlon of
Hignwaya.*

Amount
Authoriaed.

$2,000,000
1 2,500,000
260,000
400,000
•75,000
500,000
800,000
1,000,000
* 76,000

00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00

Bate of
Approyal.

*500,000 00
600,000 00

200,000 00

• 8,500,000 00
« 1,000,000 00

June 21, 1886 .
Mar. 21, 1887 .
May 18, 1887. .
May 26,1887. .
June U, 1887.
June 16, 1887 .
May 28, 1888. .
Mar. 1, 1880 . .
April 12, 1880.

April 26, 1888.

May 0,1880 . .

May 5 and )
June28, 180O (

May 7, 1801 . .

May 11, 1801.

Amount
laaued.

$2,600,000 00

2,400,000 00

250,000 00

400,000 00

500,000 00

600,000 00

1,000,000 00

600,000 00
200,000 00
700,000 00

>In addition to ooet of land : $2,400,000 of thla amount already approved by City Couneil
and leaned.

sNeyer approved by City OounoiL

•Entire loan authoriied by City Couneil; only $700,000 laaued.

« Authorized by City Council, but not yet laaued.

■Not exceeding $1,000,000 each year— debt laaued in 1801 ($50,000) inaide of debt limit;
debt laaued hereafter will be outoide of debt limit— $500,000 (including $50,000 already
laaued) authorised by City CoundL

APPENDIX.

DEBT

ISSUE.

1822 (town debt) $100,000 00

1856-7 . . . $431,900 00

1822-8 . . ,

3,550 00

1857-8 ,

1,168,400 00

1823-4 . . .

103,500 00

1858-9 ,

1,232,950 00

1824-5 . . ,

283,257 75

1859-60 ,

735,800 00

1825-6 . . ,

318,685 32

1860^1 ,

992,700 00

•1

1826-7 . . .

873,475 00

1862-8 ,

1,604,850 00

1827-8 . . .

181,000 00

1863-4 .

850,000 00

1828-9 . . .

147,250 00

1864-5 ,

639,709 80

1829-80 . . ,

295,480 75

1865-6 .

712,150 00

1830-1 . . ,

281,000 00

1866

. 1,499,000 00

1831-2 . . ,

199,743 18

1867

1,037,175 00

1832-8 . . ,

466,592 53

1868

. 2,937,000 00

1833-4 . . ,

593,044 00

1869

531,500 00

1834-5 . . ,

744,626 69

1870

. 3,561,500 00

1885-6 . . .

707,186.03

1871

5,238,000 00

1836-7 . . ,

359,804 65

1872

2,981,000 00

-4

1837-8 . . .

217,300 00

1878

, 7,255,176 65

1838-9 . . ,

283,200 00

1874

, 4,478,600 00

1839-40 . . ,

478,332 56

1875

2,206,200 00

1840-1 . . .

345,000 00

1876

. 8,533,300 00

1841-2 . • ,

» • • • •

1877

667,000 00

1842-3 . . .

• • • •

1878

1,849,000 00

1843-4 . . ,

» • ■ • •

1879

1,890,000 00

1844-5 . . ,

11,566 62

1880

2,701,000 00

1845-6 . . ,

109,653 16

1881

123,000 00

1846-7 . . .

297,860 82

1882

. 2,078,500 00

1847-8 . . ,

1,419,688 39

1888

. 8,278,500 00

1848-9 . . ,

1,085,367 51

1884

1,837,500 00

1849-50 . . .

528,371 23

1885

1,742,700 00

1850-1 . . ,

1,195,285 00

1886

. 8,838,800 00

1851-2 . . .

1,180,513 05

1887

. 8,324,700 00

1852-3 . . ,

2,044,711 11

1888

1,529,300 00

1853-4 . . ,

944,118 00

1889

. 3,784,000 00

1854-5 • . <

306,500 00

1890

. 5,462,000 00

1855-6 . . .

158,100 00

1891

. 2,716,500 00

APPENDIX.

DEBTS ASSUMISD BT AMKEXATIOKS.

1868, — Boxbury

• • a

$991,456 00

1870. — Dorchester .

• • • •

866,200 00

1874. — Charlestown .

. $2,780,849 46

Brighton

708,690 60

West Roxbury -

520,000 00

8,958,940 06

(E. db 0. E.)

$5,816,596 06

FUNDED DEBT STATEMENT.

April 80, 1822

» 1828

- 1824

•< 1836

•• 1826

«• 1827

« 1828

•• 1829

" 1830

" 1831

*• 1882

<« 1883

<« 1834

•• 1835

«• 1886

" 1837

<• 1888

'• 1838

" 1840

•• 1841

GroM
Funded Debt.

$100,000 00

108,660 00

207,060 00

806,878 86

864,800 82

1,011,776 00

940,860 00

911,860 00

801,930 76

880,830 76

817,128 96

940,868 28

1,078,068 28

1,147,898 97

1,264,400 00

1,407,200 00

1,491,400 00

1,606,600 00

1,696,282 66

1,668,800 00

Slnking*Fimdi,
etc.

$8,267 27
8,264 61

li6,980 98
299,096 88
279A24 86
267,606 76
228,028 80
284,096 69
176,784 76
168,094 70
168,686 46
102,075 66
182,246 66
217,966 46
97,486 60
98,96169
in,489 81
90,849 66

Net

Fondod Debt.

$100,282 T8
208,796 80

218,810 80

712,678 62

670,226 U

644,844 24

668,902 46

646,286 06

641,889 18

772,268 68

924^192

1,046,8^8 42

1,082,154 44

1,279,244 66

1,808,968 40

1,602,068 41

1,026,798 26

1,678,450 44

APPENDIX.

Funded Debt Statement. — Continued.

April 90, 1848

« IMS

<• 1844

'< 1846

*• 1848

«• 1847

'• 1848

« 1849

•• 1860

« 1851

*• 1852

•* 1853

«< 1854

«« 1855

Deo* 81, 1855

« 1850

« 1857

M 1858

•• 1859

« 1860

•* 1881

" 1862

•* 1868

- 1864

** 1865

*• 18G6

«• 1867 .

*• 1868

<• 1860

*« 1870

" 187X

" 1872

•« 1878

QrOM
Funded Debt.

$1,594,700 00

1,518,700 00

1,428,800 00

1,168,266 62

1,158,718 16

1,296,626 96

8,468,606 87

6,884,846 54

6,196,144 86

6,801,641 36

7,110,670 70

7,869,435 66

7,799,855 82

7,161,140 77

7,195,649 77

7,110,249 77

7,967,499 77

9,163,049 77

9,219,599 n

9,236,209 77

9,149,409 77

10,892,207 77

10,103,782 77

11,380,282 77

11,686,875 91

12,845,375 91

13,638,850 91

16,516,849 01

16,607,600 91

28,908,860 91

27,865,916 80

29,718,677 91

86,627,293 45

Sinking-Fnndft,
etc.

$88,980 79

184,889 81

802,149 00

878,400 46

717,610 79

800,977 82

478,218 28

888,896 02

810,250 40

478,684 98

489,066 22

872,674 16

1,411,868 00

1,042,977 90

1,172,846 26

l,161,4n 83

1,238,862 82

1,884,415 14

1,774,272 97

1,192,435 48

1,222,058 94

1,028,027 18

1,307,078 27

1,597,034 69

2,065,776 61

8,868,626 00

4,609,280 78

6,618,809 76

7,621,814 66

9,779,442 67

11,770,162 86

13,552,249 88

14,860,895 82

Nek

Funded Debt.

$1,505,769 21

1,384,310 00

1,121,660 91

784,866 17

436,108 37

495,649 16

2,974,893 09

4,946,460 62

6,884,884 95

6,827,906 87

6,021,614 48

6,986,761 61

6,887,997 82

0,108471 67

6,022,803 61

6,698,771 92

6,783,686 96

7,898,684 63

7,446,826 80

8,048,864 29

7,927,446 88

9,364,180 69

8,886,654 50

0,788,108 08

9,620,600 40

0,476,840 01

8,884,670 18

10,808,640 16

9,086,686 86

14,128,008 24

16,096,764 46

16,166,428 68

21,176,898 18

APPENDIX.

FaKDED Debt Statement. — Concluded.

Boo. 81, 1874

" 1876

«« 1876

«• 1877

•• 1878

" 1879

«. 1880

'• 1881

«• 1882

» 1888

** 1884

«• 1886

" 1888

•• 1887

*' 1888

« 1880

" 1800

" 1891

B. ft O. S.

Ghrois
Funded Debt.

$48,474,841 96
48,886,682 24
44,968,822 80
48,864,444 06
41,809,688 81
48,022,816 20
41,103,760 60
40,018,698 02
41,106,677 88
42,644,128 96
42,981,984 91
48,416,946 84
46,887,887 86
48,682,428 68
48,676,609 29
61,186,741 09
66,440,861 06
66,242,746 90

SlnUng-Fundi,
ete.

$16,661,906 78
16^1,626 60
16,681,789 84
16,498,979 12
16,626,411 89
16,926,068 16
14,446,294 19
16,nO,661 42
16,724,662 86
17,282,488 44
18,216,870 64
18,716,981 66
19,988,492 89
21,054,840 11
21,726,667 80
22,863,963 08
24,886,864 08
26,689,887 66

Net
Fnnded Debt.

$27,812,986 28
27,605,006 74
28,277,082 96
26,866,464 94
26,184,in 42
26,097,788 05
26,668,466 41
24,248,046 60
24,881,026 Oa
26,811,686 62
24,766,064 27
24,700,014 29
26,864,896 47
27,627,688 47
26,860,901 99
28,321,788 06
81,068,406 98
80,708,868 34

Jaues H. Dodge,

City Auditor.

APPBNDIZ.

APPENDIX B.

Assessors' Office, Cmr Hall,

Boston, Jan. 1, 1892.
Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jb.,

Mayor of the City of Boston:
In conformity with the provisions of the Revised Ordi-
nances, we herewith transmit a statement of the Assessors'
valuation for the preceding five years, and of the abatements
thereon allowed previous to the thirty-first day of December
last. Also the average of such valuations reduced by such
abatements.

Tear.

AiMMon* ValuatloiM.

Ab«tem«iiU to Deo. 81

1887 .

. $748,168,217 41

$7,468,800

1888 .

765,355,048 89

7,185,600

1889 .

795,941,043 71

9,245,700

1890 .

822,456,800 00

7,757,800

1891 .

855,409,914 62

5,542,400

Totals

. $3,987,331,024 13

$37,150,300

Less abatem

ents, 37,150,300 00

$3,950,180,724 13

Divided by 5, gives $790,036,144.00 average Assessors' valu-
ation for the past five years.

Respectfully submitted,

For the Board of Assessors,

Joshua S. Duncklee,

Secretary,

APPENDIX. 53

APPENDIX C.

CoLLEcnNa Departmekt, Citt Hall,

Boston, Jan. 1, 1892.
HoK. Nathan Matthews, Jr.,

Mayor of the City of Boston :

Sir: The assessments committed to the Collector for the
financial year, beginning May 1, 1891, not including Cochitu-
ate and Mystic water-rates, amount to $11,678,826.08.
Of this amount there has been to Dec. 81, 1891,
$9,683,521.22 collected; $63,629.05 abated; and $1,931,675.81
remains uncollected. This includes the State, City, and
County taxes, $10,860,874.76, of which $9,030,534.35 has
been collected, $61,089.22 abated; leaving $1,769,251.19 un-
paid, and the Bank tax, $839,790.00, of which $827,694
has been paid and $12,096 unpaid.

The Cochituate water-rates assessed on first of January,
1891, were $1,566,111.30. There has been paid of these
rates $1,286,423.43; abated, $111,574.84; leaving $168,113.03
unpaid.

The Mystic water<«rates for the same tidie stand as follows:
Assessed, $357,097.94 ; paid, $320,066.15; abated, $34,534.23;
unpaid, $2,497.56.

There has also been received of the Cochituate rates for 1892,
$76,627.

The total receipts from all sources from May 1, 1891, to
Dec. 31, 1891, inclusive, amount to $13,509,798.51.

A general summary of the accounts shows that the balance
of bills and assessments outstanding

54 APPENDIX.

Jan. 1,1891, were $2,752,661 63

The assessments from Jan. 1, 1891, to Dec.

81, 1891 14,131,686 85

Cash deposits, Jan. 1, 1891, to Dec. 31, 1891, 2,729,734 89

Total amount charged to Collector . . $19,614,082 87

The Collector is credited with abatements • $411,148 86

Cash paid City Treasurer .... 16,747,607 67

Balance uncollected 2,455,326 34

$19,614,082 87

The following statement shows the amounts of the Assess-
ors' warrants for two years: —

1890-91 $10,996,923 15

1891-92 10,860,874 76

and the collections, abatements, and outstanding thereon to
December 31st of the respective years : —

1890-91. Collected . . , $8,980,135 32 or 81.7%
Abated . . . 70,698 81 " .6%

Uncollected . . 1,946,089 02 *' 17.7%

$10,996,923 15

1891-92. Collected . . . $9,030,534 35 or 83.1%
Abated . . . 61,089 22 '< .6%

Uncollected . . 1,769,251 19 '' 16.3%

$10,860,874 76

Respectfully,

James W. Riceeb,

Gity CoUedar.

APPENDIX.

APPEOTDIX D.

LOANS ISSUED IN 1891.

Date of Order.

Object.

Inclnded iii
Debt limit.

Outdde Debt
Limit.

Dec. 81. 1887 . . .

Public Park Conttmotion .....

$600,000 00

Hay 20, 1891 .. .
aCarohl8,1889 . . .
Nov. IS. 1889 , , .

•( «( «i • . ,

700,000 00

New Pabllo Llbrarv

189,000 00

Additional HqpdIt of Water ....

187,600 00

Jane 27, 1891 . . .

Oct. 26,1891 . . .

April 90 and May
16, 1891

Kay 20, 1801 . . .

Jan. 27, 1801 . . .

ICrftimAlnTi nf MAlna ..... ....

100,000 00

fiewera ...............

$80,000 00

600,000 00
60,000 00

177,000 00
288,000 00

School-honaea and Sitea

Street Constmetion Act

Miaoellaneoua : ~-

Btony Brook $38,000 00

School-bouaes . . . • 112,000 00
BeweiB 82,000 00

To make good defldendea in de-
partment approprlationa for 1800-

Street Department • $188,000 00

Police Department . 76,600 00

Sanitary Police De-
partment 24,600 00

•

$1,090,000 00

$1,626,600 00
1,090,000 00

$2,716,600 00

56 APPENDIX.

APPENDIX E.

Special appropriations that should be transferred are the
following : —

$35)500 — Remainder of an appropriation in 1891 (originally

$50,000) for the extension of Canseway street.
The estimated cost of this extension is $95,000.

85,000 — Remainder of an appropriation in 1891 (originally
$41,000) for the extension of Talbot avenue.
The original appropriation was insufficient in the
opinion of the Board of Street Commissioners.

60,000 — Appropriated in 1889 and 1890 for a bnilding for
the Fire Department at the North End. No site
has been found within the appropriation.

40,000 — Appropriated in 1889 and 1890 for a stable in the
West End for the Street Department. In-
sufficient.

12,000 — Appropriated in 1891 for a city bnilding on Dor-
chester street. The School Committee and Fire
Department, both of which are interested in
this appropriation, have been unable to agree
upon its use.

$187,500

These appropriations are not at present available for the
reasons stated, and the amounts should be utilized by transfer
to more necessary objects that can be undertaken at once.

APPENDIX. 67

APPENDIX F.

BORROWING CAPACITY.

CiTT OF Boston,
Board of Commissioners of Sinking-Funds,

CiTT Hall, Jan. 4, 1892.

Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jr.,

Mayor of the Gity of Boston:
Sib: Iq accordance with the provisions of Chap. 93,
\ Acts of 1891, it is estimated that the amount which the

city will be able to borrow daring the present municipal
year within the debt limit established by law, is $4,235,000
as per schedule annexed.

A. Davis Weld,
Joseph H. Gray,
Hbnrt R. Reed,
Samuel Johnson,
Board of Gommisaionera of SinJcing-Funds.

Alfred T. Turner,
,^ CUy Treasurer.

James H. Dodge,

City Auditor.

Right to borrow Jan. 1, 1892 .... $3,435,152
April 1, 1892. Interest on investments . . 180,000

Carried forward^ $3,615,152

APPENDIX.

Brought forward^

$3,615,152

July 1, 1892.

Interest on investments

90,000

Oct. 1, "

(( (C ((

173,000

Oct. 1, "

Debt paid from appropriation .

17,000

Nov. 30, "

Appropriation for debt

1,086,000

Jan. 1, 1893.

Interest on investments

87,000 i

Jan. 1, "

Sterling debt redeemed

40,000

Jan. 1, *'

Interest on bank deposits

100,000

Less loans authorized bat not negotiated

$5,208,152
972,500

$4,235,652

■

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY 2, 1893.

Pl BOSTOWIA. ^l

BOSTON:
Rockwell and Churchill, Qty Printers.

1893.

s " ~L ~ <'■ :

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCm

JANUARY 2, 1893.

^W, 1«30. ^^

BOSTON:
Rockwell ANn Churchill, City Printers.

1893.

CITY OF BOSTON.

In Board of Aldermen,

January 2, 1893.

Orderedy That His Honor the Mayor be requested to
fiimish the City Council with a copy of his inaugural
address for publication.

Passed. Sent down for concurrence. January 2, came

up concurred.

A true copy.

Attest:

J. M. Galvin,

Qity Clerk.

ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the City Council:

The first duty of the City Government of 1893
will be the consideration of the

ANNUAL APPROPRIATION ORDER

for the fiscal year 1893-94, the estimates for which
are herewith submitted. The interest and sinMng-
fund requirements for the year are estimated at
$2,910,219, which is $240,201 less than for the
fiscal year now closing. The amount available for
department expenditures is $10,469,408, a sum
which, according to the experience of the last two
years, should be suficient to enable the city to
live within its income.

The cost of lighting the public streets has become
excessive. Investigations by the City Engineer and
other data at hand satisfy me that a material reduc-
tion should be made in the prices now paid by
the city for gas and electricity. The contracts
with the various gas companies expire this year,
and we have no contract with the principal electric
light company. An opportunity is therefore pre-
sented for a readjustment of the charges for street

4 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

lighting, and I have estimated the expenditures of
the Lamp Department upon the basis of the pro-
posed reductions.

I am also convinced that economies can be effected
in the expenditures for printing, messenger depart-
ment, public grounds, public celebrations, and for
repairs and alterations on the school-houses and
other public buildings. Money for street widenings
may properly be included in a loan order.

With these exceptions I have in the case of every
department recommended an appropriation at least
equal to the amount that will be expended during
the current fiscal year, and an increase over the
appropriations of 1892-93 for the departments of
schools, parks, police, fire, streets, health, public in-
stitutions, registry, and assessors.

The ^ reserve fimd " has been found most useful,
and should be made sufficient to cover all possible
expenses which the presence of cholera may render
necessary.

The city revenues could be increased materially
by following the practice of other cities and making
a moderate charge for the thousands of miscellaneous
street privileges now given away for nothing. Any
attempt to procure the right to levy a special tax
for the use of the streets by the various corporations
having vested rights therein and performing public
services would probably fail this year, as in the past ;
but a considerable revenue might be derived from

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 5

fees for the street privileges granted every week to
individuals and corporations for their sole and spe-
cial benefit ; and the large corporations using the
streets without charge for commercial purposes
should make liberal allowances in the prices charged
the city for the commodities they manufacture.

LOANS.

The next duty of the new City Government will
be to pass a loan bill, which, under the law, must be
restricted to permanent improvements. In discrim-
inating between the various projects of this character
which will be brought to our attention, we should
constantly remember that it is better to concentrate
expenditure upon improvements of general benefit to
the entire community, or to the people of an entire
section of it, than to fritter away the public funds
upon purely local objects. The amount of money
which can be appropriated being limited by law,
the question in every case is not merely whether a
particular improvement is in itself desirable, but
whether it is the most desirable of those suggested.

The present borrowing capacity of the city is
$3,910,618.

I shall refrain from specifying, except in a general

way, the objects which the City Council should bear

in mind in preparing the loan order. From $200,000

' to $300,000 will be required for new school-houses

and sites ; about $100,000 for the completion of the

6 MATOB'S ADDBESS.

new hospitals at Long Island, and for a separate
establishment for women ; and about $400,000 for
additions to the City Hospital. From $500,000 to
$1,000,000 could well be devoted to street con-
struction, distributed so as to furnish stone pave-
ments for the business streets, asphalt pavements
for the residential sections, and macadamized streets
for the outlying wards.

_ *

The rest of the amount which can prudently be
borrowed during the year, should, in my judgment,
be devoted chiefly to the opening of new thorough-
fares for the accommodation of trade and travel in
the business centre of the city, and thence in radiat-
ing lines to the various suburban sections. The most
important street widenings for the business section
are the new street desired for teaming purposes, from
Haymarket square to Atlantic avenue, along the line
of Cross and Commercial streets, and the proposed
widening of Harrison avenue and Chauncy street.

The chief need of the outlying wards is for broad
and direct thoroughfares leading into the heart of
the city. Such an avenue is now being constructed
for Brighton; but the Commonwealth-avenue im-
provement might well be supplemented by widening
Brighton avenue from its junction with the former
street to Cambridge street and possibly beyond.
That part of the city lying to the west of the
Back Bay is fairly well provided for by Beacon
street and the Riverway; but a fiirther means of

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

communication with the business centre should be
furnished by widening Huntington avenue and
Tremont street from Gainsborough street to the
Brookline line.

That section of the city which stands most in
need of better and straighter connections with the
City Proper is Roxbury and the wards lying to
the south of it. I earnestly commend to your
attention the expediency of laying out a new
street, which shall connect, more directly than is
at present possible, Roxbury and the adjacent ter-
ritory with the City Proper. The new avenue to
South Boston, over Congress street and the L-street
bridge, should be widened and opened for travel
as soon as possible.

The proper laying out of the remoter sections of
the city is being worked out by the Board of Survey.

These improvements in our street lines will do
much to facilitate street travel and transportation,
to increase real-estate values, and to place Boston
on a par with the other principal cities of the
country, in all of which the streets have been laid
out by public authorities upon comprehensive
plans.

Loans should also be authorized outside the
debt limit for the completion of the Sudbury-river
basins, and for the work of street, sewer, and
sidewalk building.

8 MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

THE CITY DEBT.

The net debt of the city on Dec. 31, 1892, was
$30,539,289.97, or |164,068.37 less than on Dec. 31,
1891, and $514,207.01 less than on Dec. 31, 1890.
There is now in the city treasury $881,240.53 de-
rived from loans and appropriated for permanent
imprpvements. The additions to the sinking funds
will amount to about $2,800,000 during the year. It
will therefore be possible to spend for permanent im-
provements nearly $4,000,000 without increasing the
net debt of the city. Experience has shown that it
is difftcult to expend economically and judiciously
for permanent improvements more than this amount
in a single year. If, however, an accelerated rate of
progress upon our public works should result in
greater expenditures, the excess would be met by
covering into the sinking funds the proceeds of sales
of city property which will be available during the
year.

^ METBOPOLITAl^ IMPROVEMENTS.

The main concern of the people of Boston and
their representatives in this City Government
should be the preparation of our city to re-
ceive its proper share of the increase of trade and
population which the future will surely bring to the
cities on the Atlantic seaboard, but which is in
danger of being diverted to our competitors unless

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 9

we proceed at once to lay the foundation for a great
metropolitan city.

The first thing to be secured is rapid transit
in its various forms. The lack of adequate
facilities for travel in and out of Boston is a
serious drawback to the prosperity of the city in
its commercial and social life. The people have
had time to digest the facts and conclusions sub-
mitted in the report of the Kapid Transit Com-
mission, and there is a practically universal desire
that the subject should now be taken up in earnest
by the Legislature and the City Government.
Opinions difier as to exactly what should be done,
interests conflict, and capital hesitates ; but the
way to solve the problem is to face it, discuss it,
and to urge continually upon the State Legislature
and the corporations interested the necessity for
immediate and radical action.

I have so frequently argued in public the vari-
ous phases of this question that my views upon
the subject must be familiar, and I will not re-
hearse them here except to call attention to the
different divisions of the problem.

We need improved terminal facilities for the
steam railroads entering Boston; the abolition of
all grade crossings within the city limits; the re-
adjustment of travel across the Charles river,
and of navigation upon it, by means of elevated
drawless bridges; a tunnel and certain street

10 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

widenings for the benefit of the surface cars; a
readjustment of the surface tracks in the centre
of the city, which shall, if possible, remove all of
them between Causeway and Kjieeland streets,
except upon a few main thoroughfares; new or-
dinances regulating travel upon our narrow streets
and crowded sidewalks; and, finally, a proper sys-
tem of elevated roads.

SAiSriTARY MEAStJBES.

An equally important subject is the improve-
ment of the health and beauty of our city by the
construction of public parks, by public ownership
of the various riverways, and by the abatement
of all dangerous nuisances. Arrangements have
been made for the taking of all the lands and the
completion of our park system as originally con-
templated .out of the park loan authorized by
the Legislature of 1891. We should, however,
while there is yet time, secure certain tracts of
land lying upon the confines of the city which
can now be had for a very reasonable price,
and which will furnish splendid parks for suc-
ceeding generations. It is probable that about
five thousand acres in the vicinity of the Milton
Blue Hills, of the Muddy Pond woods in Hyde
Park, and of the Middlesex Fells, could be pro-
cured at an average cost of not over $100 an
acre. If this territory could be secured at an ex-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 11

pense of $500,000 the money should be advanced
by the State, as in the case of the Metropolitan
Sewerage works, and the interest and sinking-fund
requirements apportioned among the several com-
munities benefited.

The improvement of the banks of the Charles
and Neponset rivers must, it seems to me, be se-
cured by public ownership in a similar manner.

The two plants for the treatment of epidemic
diseases, established in 1892, should enable the city
to cope successfiilly with the threatened invasion
of cholera this year; but the selfish obstinacy of
speculative land-owners has prevented the Board
of Health from abating all the nuisances and pest-
holes which exist in various sections of the city, and
still continue to be a menace to the public health.
Additional powers should be granted to the Board
of Health, so as to enable them to compel the clean-
ing of private ways and alleys; and the owners of
tide-water flats should be obliged to fill them to
grade 12.

It will be necessary within the next ten years to
procure an entirely new source of water-supply.
I would recommend that this subject also be treated
from a metropolitan standpoint, and carefully in-
vestigated by a State commission of engineers.

12 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME.

I am well aware that the magnitude of these
suggestions frighten many persons, and that the
diflBlculties surrounding their execution seem to
others insurmountable. I have, however, sufficient
confidence in the enterprise and public spirit of
the citizens of Boston to feel convinced that when
once fully aroused to the necessity for action they
will not allow either financial difficulties or cor-
poration influence to prevent their obtaining the
things which are essential to the growth and
prosperity of our city. I do not believe that
the undertakings which have been carried out in
. other cities of this country, with which Boston
must compete for commerce, wealth, and popu-
lation, are impossible of accomplishment here.
I am unwilling to concede that the railroad com-
panies entering Boston cannot be induced to im-
prove their terminal facilities. What is being
done in Baltimore, in Philadelphia, in Jersey
City, and in Chicago, can be accomplished here.
Selfish land schemers will seek to prevent the de-
velopment of suburban territory upon proper street
lines; but yjhy should the streets of every other
large city in this country be laid out by public
authorities upon public lines, and constructed
practically without expense to the community,
while in Boston the real-estate speculator

• >

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

is allowed to loot the city treasury for wS
private benefit ? Those who fear that elevated
railroads cannot be built in Boston without ap-
propriating the streets and confiscating the
rights of abutting owners should study the recom-
mendations of the Kapid Transit Commission, or
visit the city of Chicago, where capital, partly
raised in Boston, has not hesitated to invest in
elevated railroads built entirely upon private
land. If the ten or twelve millions needed to
provide new and wide thoroughfares of travel
across the congested section of the city, seem a
large sum, it should be recollected that this
amount is less than one-half the expenditure for
street widenings in the few years succeeding the '
close of the Civil War, less than one-third of the
amount that the Cochituate water-works will
cost when completed, and only about one-quarter
as much as has been expended for street widen-
ings since the incorporation of our city in 1822.

NEW CITY HALL.

It must be obvious that Metropolitan Boston will
need a new and larger City Hall, and that the longer
the building of it is delayed the more':' its site will
cost; unless the Public Garden is selected for the
purpose. The top of Beacon Hill still seems to me
the most appropriate site ; and I would recommend
that early action be taken in the matter.

14 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

CONCLUSION.

The present City Government is confronted by
some of the most important problems which have
arisen since the foundation of the city. Notwith-
standing their magnitude and number, I beUeve that
the people expect their chosen representatives to
attack these problems in earnest, to consider them
with care, and then to take such action, by petition
to the State Legislature, or otherwise, as will best
promote the interests of the city.

With a desire to secure prompt and eflfective
action by the City Government, I venture to sug-
gest a readjustment of the joint committees of the
City Council. These committees are now ap-
pointed by departments, — that is, one for each
division of executive work : a practice which was
necessary before the charter amendments of 1885,
but which, since the passage of that law, has failed
to furnish to the members of the City Council fiill
opportunities for the discharge of the duties they
are elected to perform. It would be better to
appoint the committees by subjects rather than
by departments, and I would suggest that a joint
committee be appointed for each of the various
matters alluded to in this message.

The City Government of 1893 will have done
its duty by the people if it shall so contrive
that the moneys raised by taxation and by loan

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 15

shall be appropriated for purposes of general util-
ity, and expended with economy; and shaU give
its energies and thought to the solution of the
greater problems upon which the future of Boston
is dependent.

Let us enter upon this work in a spirit devoid
of partisanship, political or local, and with a deter-
mination to serve the interests of the whole com-
munity.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.

MAYOR'S MESSAGE ON THE ANNUAL ESTIMATES.

City of Boston, OmoE of the Mayor,

City Hall, January 2, 1893.

To the Honorable the City Council:

Gentlemen : The amount that the city may appropriate
from revenues and taxes for the fiscal year 1893-94 is
$13,379,627, procured as follows:

Department estimates of income .
Corporation tax, estimated receipts
Liquor licenses, estimated net receipts
Estimated cash on hand Feb. 1, 1893
Product of $9 law
Extra for county expenses .

Total for department expenditures
Interest on city and county debt, $1,671,000
Sinking funds and principal of

debt 1,239,219

$785,590
875,000
710,000
300,000

7,373,818
425,000

$10,469,408

2,910,219

Total $13,379,627

APPENDICES.

I transmit herewith the department estimates of expen-
ditures ; and my own recommendations in respect thereto
are as follows :

Approprlattoni

BcoommuidalloBi

forl8g2-»S.

for ISSiMM.

$22,500

122,500

128,000

142,237

27,200

18,000

5,500

6,500

Architect

Assessing Department

Auditing Department

Board of Aldermen, salaries

Board of Aldermen, contingent
expenses

Board of Aldermen, soldiers' re-
lief ....

City Clerk

City Council, contingent .

City Council, incidental .

City Messenger

Clerk of Committees

Collecting

Common Council, clerks' ex-
penses

Common Council, contingent

Engineering .

Ferry Department .

Fire Department

Health Department .

Hospital Department

Inspection of Buildings .

Inspection of Milk and Vinegar,

Inspection of Provisions .

Amounts carried forward, $2,238,130 $2,283,562

82,000

75,000

70,000

5,500

30,000

* 30,000

24,000

20,000

10,500

84,000

84,600

4,500

4,000

6,800

40,000

42,000

215,000

1,000,000

1,020,000

125,000

140,000

259,000

260,000

68,500

12,500

2,430

3,225

APPENDICES.

Amounts brought foi^wardj
Lamp Department, general

expenses . • . •
Lamp Department, gas and

electric light companies
Lamp Department, naphtha

lighting ....
Lamp Department, new work.
Law Department
Laying Out Streets Department,
Library .
Markets •
Mayor
Mt. Hope
Parks
Police
Printing •
Public Buildings, armories

Election expenses

Rents .

Salaries • . . \

Alterations and repairs . /
Public Buildings, schools •
Public Celebrations .
Public Grounds
Public Institutions .
Begistration of Voters
Registry Department

Approprlatiooi BecommeDdatioiif
for 1802-98. for 1803-04.

$2,238,130 $2,283,562

ies\

610,000

29,500
39,528
162,000
10,250
29,000
10,000
60,000
1,150,000
45,000

192,000

231,000
26,400
95,000

600,000
45,000
21,292

120,563

350,000

59,682
15,000
31,000
17,500

151,000
12,450
31,000
10,000

100,000
1,175,000
40,000
13,910
27,000
28,450
15,500
50,000

190,000
25,000
50,000

625,000
46,500
33,500

Amounts carried forward, 15,594,100 $5,501,617

22 APPENDICES.

Approprtatloiu

Recommendatloiu

for Ig92-t3.

for 1898-M.

$5,594,100

$5,501,617

115,000

110,000

50,000

89,088

1,769,000

1,804,000

12,500

19,953

2,500

20,000

125,000

135,000

13,000

850,000

350,000

ATnounts brought forward y

Relief of Poor ....

Reserve Fund •

School Committee .

Sealer of Weights and Measures,

Sinking-Fund Department

Street Department, Central
Office .....

Street Department, Bridge Div.,

Street Department, Cambridge
Bridges Div.

Street Department, Paving Div.,

Street Department, Sewer Div.,

Street Department, Street-Clean-
ing Div 300,000 300,000

Street Department, Street-
Watering Div. . . . 100,000 100,000

Street Department, Sanitary
Div

Surveying ....

Treasury ....

City Debt, sinking fund .

City Debt, interest .

County Debt, sinking fund and
principal ....

County Debt, Interest

House of Correction

County, general expenses .

450,000

470,000

35,000

40,000

39,250

1,236,248

1,176,842

1,734,528

1,560,000

58,144

62,377

121,500

121,000

99,650

100,000

525,000

Total $13,600,420 $13,379,627

APPENDICES. 23

Water-Income Department :
Cochituate Water- Works .
Mystic Water-Works

ApproprlsUou

BeeommandatioDS

for 1892-8S.

for 189S-M.

$45,000

$50,620

10,600

12,680

$55,600

$63,300

Water-Supply Department :
Cochituate Water-Works :

Current expenses . . $355,000 $370,000
Interest .... 811,017 831,748

$1,166,017 $1,201,748

Mystic Water-Works :

Current expenses . . $127,750 $128,000 00
Interest .... 19,257 16,827 50

$147,007 $144,827 50

Bespectfully submitted,

N. Matthews, Jr.,

Mayor.

24 APPENDICES.

APPENDIX B,

AUDITOR'S STATEMENT.

City and County Debt.

Gross funded debt, Dec. 81, 1891 . . . $56,242,745 90
Add funded debt issued in 1892 . . . 2,977,800 00

$59,220,545 90
Deduct funded debt paid in 1892 . . . 2,136,982 71

Gross debt, Dec. 31, 1892 .... $57,088,563 19
Sinking funds, Dec. 31, 1891 . $25,518,981 58
Receipts during 1892 . . 2,874,790 38

$28,393,771 91
Payments during 1892 . . 2,164,275 05

$26,229,496 86
Bonds, betterments, etc., the
payment of which is pledged
to the payment of debt :

Bonds . . . $3,587 00
Betterments, etc. . 157,878 27
Sidewalk assess-

ments, chap. 401,

Acts of 1892 . 84,160 84
Sewer assessments,

chap. 402, Acts

of 1892 . . 69,155 25

314,776 36

Total redemption means Dec. 31, 1892 . 26,544,278 22

Net debt, Dec. 31, 1892 $80,539,289 97

APPENDICES.

Gross debt, Dec. 81, 1892
Gross debt, Dec. 31, 1891

Increase

Net debt, Dec. 81, 1891 .
Net debt, Dec. 81, 1892 .

Decrease

. 157,088,568 19
. 56,242,745 90

$840,817 29

. $30,708,858 34
. 80,639,289 97

$164,068 87

City debt, iDclnding balance of debts assumed

by acts of annexation $36,439,789 21

County debt 8,445,000 00

Cochituate water debt 16,758,778 98

Mystic water debt 440,000 00

$57,088,568 19

APPENDICES.

LfOANS AUTHORIZED BT SpECIAX STATUTES OUTSIDE OF DeBT
LlKIT OTHER THAN FOR WaTER-WoRKS.

Year.

Chap.

188e.

304.

1887.

101.

1887.

282.

1887.

812.

1887.

304.

1887.

428.

1888.

802.

1889.

68.

1880.

254.

1889.

283.

1889.

322.

1800.

271)
444

1801.

801.

1801.

334.

1801.

828.

1802.

288.

Object.

Public Park Oonttractlon . . .
Baffolk Conoty Conrt-Honae' .

Harvard Bridge

Pablic Park Lands

Sewer, Tremont at

Stony Brook Improvement .

Pablic Park Lands

New Library Baildlng ....
W. Chester.park Extension . .

Congresi-st. and Oliver-st. Ex-
tension

Improved Sewerage

Pablic Parks, Charlestown . .

Public Parks

New Library Building . . . .

Laying Out and Oonstruetlon of
Ulgfaways^

Suffolk County Oourt-House
Famishing

Amount
Authorized.

$2,600,000 00

260,000
400,000
< 76,000
500,000
600,000
1,000,000
» 75,000

00
00
00
00
00
00
00

Date of
Approval.

* 500,000 00
600,000 00

200,000 00

> 8,500,000 00
1,000,000 00

100,000 00

June 21, 1886
Mar. 21, 1887
May 18, 1887
May 26, 1887
June 11, 1887
June 16, 1887
May 23, 1888
Mar. 1,1889
April 12, 1880

AprU 26, 1880

May 0, 1889

May 6 and
June 28, 1890

May 7, 1891

May 11, 1891

May 9, 1892

Amoant
Issued.

$2,500,000 00

2,600,000 00

250,000 00

400,000 00

600,000 00

1,000,000 00

600,000 00

200,000 00

1,000,000 00
100,000 00

256,800 00

50,000 00

^ $2,500,000 In addition to the cost of land. Cost of land, $1,056,469.69; $2,706,000 author-
ized by City Coancil.

* Never approved by City ConncU.

a Entire loan authorized by City Council; only $1,000,000 issued.

* Not exceeding $1,000,000 each year — debt authorized in 1891 ($500,000) inside of debt
limit: debt authorized hereafter will be outside of debt limit.

APPENDICES.

Loans issued in 1892.

Date of Order.

• • •

Oct. 26, 1801
Dee. 6, 1891

Dec. 10, 1891 . . .

Dec. 24, 1891 . . .

Jul. 28, 1892 . . .

■ • *

U C« II

■ • •

May 20, 1891 . . .

Not. 18, 1889 . . .

ICayaO, 1801 . . .

May 24, 1802 . . .

Aug. 26, 1802 . . .

July 11, 1802 . . .

• • •

Oct. 24, 1801
Sept. 80, 1802 . . .

Aug. 24, 1802 . . .
Oct. 7, 1892 . : . .

Object.

Sewers

L-et Bridge

Commoowealth ave., OonatracUon .

Doroheeter ave., Paving, Wards 16
and 24

Allston Bridge

ImproYcd Sewerage . . . .
Extension of Mains . . . .
Street Constmction Act . .
Additional Supply of Water

Public Parks

Various Municipal Purposes
Suffolk County Conrt-House

• • • •

Suffolk County Oourt-Honse, Fur-
nishing

Library Building, Dartmouth st.

Buildings, Gallop's Island and Swett
street

New Lunatic Hospital

Laying Out Streets Department

Included in
Debt Limit.

Inside Debt Limit . .$1,992,800 00
Outside ** ** . . 986,000 00

$2,977,800 00

$841,000 00
180,000 00
210,000 00

126,000 00

90,000 00

100,000 00

206,800 00

680,000 00

60,000 00
46,000 00
16,000 00

$1,902,800 00

Outside Debt
Limit.

$100,000 00

286,000 00
800,000 00

200,000 00

60,000 00
100,000 00

$986,000 00

APPBNDICES.

Loans authorized but not issued, Dec. 31, 1892.

Data of Order.

Nov.lS,lS89 .
May 20, 1891 .

May ao, 1891 .

Oct. 24,1891. .

Dec. 5, 1891 . .

Jan. 2, 1892 . .

Jan. 23, 1892. .

Jane 1,1892. .

July 11, 1892 .

Aug. 25,1892 .

May 24, 1892. .

Ang.24,1892 .

Oct. 7, 1892 . .

Oct. 7,1892 . .

Object.

Additional Sapply of Water

l4iyuig Out and Conttmction of
Highways

labile Parks

Library Balldlng, Dartmontb st. . .

L-et. Bridge

City Hospital Improvements . . . .

Improved Sewerage

HighBervioe

Inside
Debt Limit.

Snffolk County Conrt-Honse, Far-
Dishing . .

Baffolk Connty Conrt-Hoose . . . .
Various Manicipal Parposes . . . .

New Lunatic Hospital

Laying Out Streets

City Hospital, Additional Land . . .

Inside Debt Limit .
Outside " "

$1,686,426 00

. 3,858,600 00

$5,544,925 00

$248,200 00

80,000 00
130,500 00
150,000 00

919,725 00

155,000 00

10,000 00

42,000 00

$1,686,425 00

Outside
Debt Limit

$227,600 00

2,600,000 00
900,000 00

76,000 00

60,000 00
106,000 00

$3,868,500 00

Balances from Loans, Dec. 31, 1892.

Improved Sewerage

Laying Out and Constraction of Highways
Bedford and Kingston streets ....

Forbes street

Harvard street

Jerome-place extension

Norfolk street

$50,032 45
4,462 45
15,750 00
2,332 26
4,500-00
1,000 00
3,000 00

Amount carried forward^

$81,077 16

AFFENDICBS.

Soath

((

Amount brought forward^
Park street, Charlestown, widening and oon-

stmcting ....
Talbot-avenae extension
Ward street

Widening Commercial street
Pablic Parks

Pnblic Park Constmction .
Pablic Parks, Charlestown
Public Park Lands
Elevator, City HaU .
Engine-honse, Ashmont
Fire Department Building and Site,

Boston
Headquarters, etc.
Hospital for Horses
Library Building, Dartmouth street .
Police Station-honse, Brighton .
'' " No. 13, Land and

tion to
Ward-room, Ward 2, Enlargement of
Addition to House of Lidustry
Barn, Long Island ....
Electric-lighting Plant, Long Island
Parental School for Boys .
Austin Primary School-house, building
Cook School-house, enlargement of yard
Grammar School-house, Hillside District
*' *' Mt. Vernon District

. *' " North Brighton, site

" *« buUding,

Pierce District

addi

Amount carried forward^

$81,077 16

6,600 00

2,467 00

700 00

1,796 88

86,366 86

267 78

101,661 96

297 26

HI 65

4,968 87

8,102 98

88,250 86

9,970 49

2,849 75

6,684 10

7,444 99

4,952 69

13,065 71

1,883 47

6,307 53

990 00

1,271 05

95 39

945 96

1,469 82

405 00

3,358 91

832 95

$398,470 86

APPENDICES.

Amount brought forward^

Lyceum Hall, Dorchester

*• " " to fit for primary school,

Mechanic Arts High School

Primary School-house, Adams District

Beech street, site
Lot, Blossom street
Bunker Hill District
Dillaway District, build

ing .
Emerson District .
Frothingham District

land .
Gardner street, site
George Putnam District
Hillside District
Lowell District
North of Broadway
Oak square, etc.

AUston bridge ....

L-street bridge ....

Rebuilding bridges to Watertown

Beacon street ....

Brent street ....

Chardon street ....

Commonwealth-avenue Construction

Conant street, macadamizing

Davis street, asphalt .

Decatur street. Ward 16, asphalt

Dorchester avenue, paving. Wards 15 and 24

Dorchester street, Ninth street to Broadway,
paving

Amount carried forward^

n
(i
((
cc

((

(4
44
44
44
44
44

$393,470 35

10,000 00

714 73

31,870

776 91

5,595 00

2,654 38

411

7,913 83

1,882

114

878

940

596

27,911

34 52

22,945 03

8,782

4,848 85

1,675

349 45

125,338

2,348

211

520

9,625

2,935 35

$665,468 40

APPENDICES.

Amount brought forward^
Eighth street, L to O street, edgestones, etc.
Florence street, asphalt
Harbor View street
Houghton street, macadamizing .
L street, grading, etc.
La Grange street
Lexington avenue
Sawyer avenue ....
Second street, Dorchester street to

paving

Smith street, construction .

Street Improvements, Aldermanic Dist

No.

((

6
7
12

Ward 12
Tuttle street
West Newton street, between Washington street

and Shawmut avenue, asphalt blocks
Sewer, between Roslindale and West Boxbury
Sewers, Brighton
Sewer outlets, D street
Sewer outlets. East Boston
Sewers, Roxbury
Sewers, Savin Hill District
Sewers, South Boston

Sewers, Ward 23, Washington street, etc. .
Sewers, Westville, Freeman, and Charles streets
Stables and sheds, Brighton

Tng-boat

Additional supply of water ....
High service

Amount carried forward^

$665,468 40

1,336

1,818

562

1,661

2,346

3,697 00

1,716

1,719

3,369

4,287

7,033

1,281

14,286

6,376

1,081

318

7,206

2,486

5,726

2,019

204

3,482

802

1,241

6,967

4,200 50

7,041

40,470 48

$799,779 79

APPENDICES.

Amount brought forward^

Protection of water-supply .
Suffolk County Coort-Hoose

*' '* ** famishing

Jackson street

Howell street

Buildings, Gallop's Island and Swett street
New Lunatic Hospital
New buildings, City Hospital
Congress-street bridge, guard

$799,779 79

80,000 00

12,096 04

744 59

1,600 00

1,500 00

14,622 26

10,500 00

9,963 54

534 31

$881,240 53

Jaices H. Dodge,

City Auditor.

APPENDICES.

APPEIJDIX C.

ASSESSORS' STATEMENT.

Assessors' Office, Citt Hall,

Boston, Dec. 31, 1892.
Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jr.,

Mayor of the City of Boston :

In conformity with the provisions of the Reyised Ordi-
nances, we herewith transmit a statement of the Assessors'
valuations for the preceding five years, and of the abatements
thereon allowed previous to the thirty-first day of December;
also the average of such valuations reduced by such abate-
ments.

Year. Valnations.

Abatemento.

1888 . . $765,855,048 39

$7,185,600

1889 . . 795,941,048 71

9,246,600

1890 . . . 822,456,800 00

7,792,800

1891 . . . 855,413,414 62

7,758,700

1892 . . 895,987,904 00

6,659,500

$4,135,154,210 72

$88,588,200

Less abatements, 38,588,200 00

$4,096,566,010 72

Divided by 5 . $819,313,202 00

Respectfully submitted,

For the Board of Assessors,

Joshua S. Dunoexee,

iSecreta/ry.

34 APPENDICES.

APPENDED D.

CITY COLLECTOR'S STATEMENT.

CoLLBcnNG DBPABTMBirr, City Hall,

Boston, Dec. 31, 1892.
Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jr.,

Mayor of the City of Boston :

Sib: The assessineiits oommitted to the Collector for the
financial year beginning Feb. 1, 1892, not including Cochituate
and Mystic water rates, amount to $13,584,568.56. Of this
amoant there has been to Dec. 31, 1892, $11,464,079.15 collected,
$105,044.61 abated, and $2,015,444.80 remains uncollected.
This includes the State, City, and County taxes, $11,656,484.92,
of which $9,903,985.31 has been collected, $85,985.07 abated ;
leaving $1,666,514.54 unpaid, and the Bank tax, $841,176.75,
all of which has been paid.

The Cochituate water rates, assessed on the first of January,

1892, and additional and meter rates assessed during the year,
amount to $1,576,967.89. There has been paid of these rates
$1,366,859.52; abated, $16,808.17; leaving $193,300.20 unpaid.

The Mystic water rates for the same time stand as follows :
Assessed, $387,079.50; paid, $374,048.25; abated, $9,965.48;
unpaid, $3,065.77.

There has also been received of the Cochituate water rates for

1893, $18,176.25, and of the Mystic water rates, $1,186.50.

The total receipts from all sources from Feb. 1, 1892, to Deo.
31, 1892, inclusive, amount to $16,667,926.06.

A general summary of the accounts shows that the balance of
bills and assessments outstanding

APPENDICES. 35

Jan. 1, 1892, was $2,455,805 17

The asseBsments from Jan. 1, 1892, to Dec. 31,

1892 . 15,640,482 14

Cash deposits from Jan. 1, 1892, to Dec. 31,

1892 2,771,661 49

Total amount charged to Collector $20,867,448 80

Of this amount the Collector is credited with

abatements $294,629 79

The Collector is credited with cash paid City

Treasurer 17,795,279 08

Balance uncollected 2,777,539 93

$20,867,448 80

The following statement shows the amount of the Assess-
ors' warrants for two years :

1891-92 $10,860,874 76

1892-93 11,656,484 92

and the collections, abatements, and amounts outstanding
thereon to December 3l8t of the respective years:

1891-92. Collected . . $9,030,534 35 or 83.1%

Abated . . . 61,089 22 '* .6%

Uncollected . 1,769,251 19 " 16.3%

$10,860,874 76

1892-93. Collected . . . $9,903,985 31 or 85. %
Abated . . 85,985 07 ** .7%

Uncollected . 1,666,514 54 << 14.3%

$11,656,484 92

Respectfully submitted,

James W. Bicker,

OUy OoUector.

36 APPENDICES.

APPENDIX E.

BORROWING CAPACITY.

CiTT OP Boston,
BoABD OF Commissioners of Sinking-Funds,

Cnr Hall, Jan. 2, 1893.

Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jr.,

Mayor of the Oity of Boston :

Sir : In accordance with the provisions of chap. 98,
Acts of 1891, it is estimated that the amount which the
city will be able to borrow daring the present municipal
year within the debt limit established by law is $3,910,618,
as per schedule annexed.

A. Davis Weld,
Henrt R. Reed,
Samuel Johnson,
Joseph H. Gray,
Chas. H. Allen,
Nathaniel J. Rust,
Board of Gommissioners of Sinking-IfSinds,

Alfred T. Turner,

City Treasurer.
James H. Dodoe,

City Auditor,

APPENDICES.

Total Debt, City and County, Dec. 81, 1892
LeM Special Loans (outside of limit)

Cochitaate Water Debt

Mystic Water Debt

County Debt (outside of limit)

. $57,083,568 19

f 7,050 000 00

16,768.778 98

440,000 00

2,650,000 00

26,898,778 98

•80,184,789 21

Sinking Funds

Less Cochituate Water Sinking
Fund $6,966,458 96

Mystic Water Sinking Fund, 578,082 28

Public Park Construction Sink-
ing Fund .... 888,227 88

Special Loans Sinking Fund, 416,560 72

County Court-House Sinking
Fund 158,962 62

$26,229,496 86

8,503,257 46

17,726,239 40

Debt, excluding Loans outside of limit, and deducting Sink-
ing Funds for said debt $12,458,549 81

Two per cent, on $790,086,144, average yaluation for flye

years, less abatements $15,800,722 88

Debt as above 12,458,549 81

$8,842,178 07

Average valuation for five years, less abate-
ments to Dec. 81, 1892 . . . .

Average valuation for five years, less abate-
ments to Dec. 81, 1891 ....

Two per cent, on increase

Laterest on Investments, Jan. 1, 1898

$819,313,202

790,036,144

$29,277,058 585,541 00

75,491 00

Right to borrow, Jan. 1. 1893 $4,008,205 00

APPENDICES.

Bight to borrow

} Jan. 1, 1893 .

. $4,003,205 00

April 1, 1893.

Interest on Investments

170,000 00

July 1, 1893.

70,000 00

Oct. 1, 1893.

155,000 00

" 1, 1893.

Debt paid from Appropriation

17,000 00

Nov. 1, 1893.

Appropriation for Debt

1,026,838 00

" 1, 1893.

Interest on Investments

17,000 00

Dec. 31, 1893.

Sterling Debt Redeemed .

80,000 00

" 31, 1893.

Interest on Bank Deposits

58,000 00

$5,597,043 00

Less loans authc

)rized, but not negotiated •

. 1,686,425 00

$3,910,618 00

m ■>

■'^UA^Si^z^/^.^^.'SrO

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY I, 1894.

BOSTON:
Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

1894.

'- - 'f '.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

NATHAN MATTHEWS, Jr.,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY I, 1894.

^^^^^^^^

t/i)

%. 1680. ^^

BOSTON:

ROCKWBLL AND ChURCHILL, CiTY PRINTERS.

1894.

CITY OF BOSTON,

In BoABD of AliDEBMEN,

January 1, 1894.

Orderedj That His Honor the Mayor be requested to
furnish the City Council with a copy of his inaugural
address for pubUcation.

Passed. Sent down for concurrence. January 1, came
up concurred.

A true copy.

Attest :

John M. Galvin,

City Clerk.

ADDRESS.

To the Honorable the City Council:

Gentlemen: The first business of the city
government of 1894 will be the consideration
of the

ANNUAIi APPROPRIATION ORDER

for the fiscal year 1894-5.

The city is authorized by St. 1885, Ch. 178,
to raise annually by direct taxation enough
money to meet the estimated requirements of the
year for interest on all loans for city and
county purposes, and for the accumulation of a
sinking fund sufficient to pay the funded debt
of the city and county at maturity.

The amounts estimated as required and duly
appropriated for interest and sinking-fund pay-
ments on account of these loans during the
past nine fiscal years, have been:

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

For SlsklDg Fand

ToUl Debt

Year.

For Interest.

and Debt Pasrmenta.

BequlremenU.

1885-86 . . ,

$1,527,601

$643,968

$2,171,569

1886^7 . . ,

1,534,352

642,005

2,176,357

1887-88 . • ,

1,659,358

766,107

2,425,465

1888-89 . . ,

1,691,592

825,930

2,517,522

1889-90 . . ,

1,593,238

899,272

2,492,510

1890-91 . . .

1,743,308

1,247,634

2,990,942

1891-92 . . .

1,411,755

1,476,161

2,887,916

1892-93 . . .

1,856,028

1,294,392

3,150,420

1893-94 . . .

1,671,000

1,239,219

2,910,219

1894-95 . . ,

1,580,720

1,245,348

2,826,068

The city is allowed by the same law to levy

an annual tax for general municipal purposes

equivalent to nine dollars on every thousand of

the average of the assessors' valuations of the
taxable property of the city for the preceding

five years, less abatements to the thirty-first day
of December preceding; and by St. 1887, Ch.
281, authority was given to add to the annual
tax-levy the sum of $425,000 for county pur-
poses.

The following table shows the revenue of the
city from year to year under the nine-dollar
law of 1885:

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Average yalaations for flye years, less
abatements to December 31.

1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893

9661,011,076 00
670,035,172 00
678,768,000 00
694,078,430 00
711,071,286 00
733,736,943 00
761,236,068 00
790,036,144 00
819,313,202 00
850,076,262 00

Nine dollars on a thousand amounted

For 1885-86 ....
1886-^7 ....
1887—88 ....

1889-90 ....
1890-91 ....
1891-92 ....
1892—93 • . . .
1893-94 ....
1894H95 ...

$5,949,099 68
6,030,316 55
6,108,867 00
6,246,705 87
6,399,641 57
6,603,682 49
6,851,124 61
7,110,325 30
7,373,818 00
7,650,686 35

The city also receives a large revenue from liquor
licenses and other miscellaneous sources, estimated
by the Auditor for the coming year at $2,490,000.

The product of the nine-dollar law, the addi-
tional $425,000 allowed by the Act of 1887, and
the miscellaneous revenues of the city make to-
gether the total annual income of the city and
county available for general department expendi-
tures. This amount, added to the interest and
sinking-fund requirements for the year, makes the
full amount which the city government can ap-
propriate for the annual expenditures for the city
of Boston and the county of Suffolk.

The operation since 1885 of these limitations
is shown in the following table:

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

a
o

I II R ^ 4 II J

i I i. I S II 11

^ 2. S It 2. I I. S. A
t A 2 I § I S i I I

r^lHlHT-tfHriHl-llHiH

I^llllllll

s S § R I I § I I §

lllgHgSIII

00 00

00 Ok

o e

1 1 § i I II 1 1 I

• \ 8. n '. '•^ 3. •. •-. "*-

M M e< M M C« M

fifl

1»

|l§§l§§9

I § § I S'§ S. II I

i: 1 1 1 i i s. A 1 1

xooaDOoaoooaooococo

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

It will be noticed that while the nine-dollar
law will produce $276,868 more from taxes in
1894-5 than in 1893-4, yet the miscellaneous rev-
enue of the city, which varies considerably from
year to year, is expected to fall below the revenue
for 1893-4 by $266,590, leaving available for the
department expenditures of 1894-6 only $10,278
more than in 1893-4. This decline in revenue is
due partly to the fact that no sales of city property
have been made since February 1, 1893, and partly
to the slowness with which the taxes for the year
are being paid.

I shall submit to-day my recommendations con-
cerning the appropriation order for the coming
year, together with the department estimates.
These estimates and recommendations are sug-
gestions merely. The sole power to originate
appropriations is vested in the city council;
and that body, while it cannot appropriate more
in the aggregate than the total named, can by
a two-thirds vote in each branch distribute the
money among the different departments as it
sees fit.

After the appropriation order has been passed, it
will be incumbent upon the several departments to
observe carefully its terms and limitations. The
city has lived within its income during the past

8 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

three years; no money has been borrowed since
May 1, 1891, for ordinary department expenses;
and the accounts for the present fiscal year will
show a cash surplus at the close of business on
the thirty-first of this month. The heads of
departments should understand that no return to
the practice of borrowing money for ordinary
department expenditures will be permitted, and
that they must keep their expenditures within
the appropriations granted by the city council.

THE TAX KATE.

The tax rate for 1893 for city and county pur-
poses was the lowest since 1876; but the rate
for State purposes was the highest since 1888.
It is earnestly to be hoped that the legislature of
1894 will restrict its expenditures to a total con-
siderably below the figures of 1893. If the direct
State tax-bill does not exceed $1,750,000 (the
amount levied in 1892), and if the annual increase
in valuations is as much as during the past few
years, the tax rate for 1894 for city, county, and
State purposes will be less than last year. It is
not unlikely, however, that the valuations for 1894
will be no more, and perhaps even less, than those
for 1893; in which case the tax rate will be about
what it was last year, or possibly somewhat higher.

MAYOR'S ADDBESS.

THE OITT DEBT.

The condition of the funded debt of the city,
including all water and county loans, on Decem-
ber Slst of every year since the annexations of
1874, is shown in the following table:

DEBT STATEMENT ON DECEMBER 81, OF EAOH YEAR.

TlAB.

1874
187S
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887

1889
1890
1891
1892
1893

GroM D«bt.

$48,474,841 96
48,886,882 24
44,958,822 80
48,854,444 06
41,809,588 81
48,022,816 20
41,108,750 60
40,018,598 02
41,105,577 88
42,544,128 96
42,981,984 91
48,416,945 84
46,887,887 86
48,682,428 58
48,576,569 29
51,185,741 09
55,440,861 06
56,242,745 90
57,088,568 19
55,881,685 15

Meant of
Bedemption.

$15,661,906 78
16,881,626 50
16,681,789 84
16,498,979 12
15,625,411 89
16,925,088 15
14,445,294 19

15.770.551 42

16.724.552 86
17,282,488 44
18,215,870 64
18,716,981 55
19,988,492 89
21,054,840 11
21,725,667 80
22,868,958 08
24,886,864 08
25,589,887 56
26,544,278 22
22,111,528 22

Net Debt.

$27,812,985 28
27,505,005 74
28,277,082 96
26,855,464 94
26,184,171 42
26,097,788 05
26,658,456 41
24,248,046 60
24,881,025 02
25,811,685 52
24,766,064 27
24,700,014 29
26,854,895 47
27,627,688 47
26,850,901 99
28,821,788 06
81,058,496 98
80,708,858 84
80,589,289 97
88,720,111 98

10 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

While the increase in the net debt during the past
three years has been only $2,666,614.95, and while
this increase is at least $2,000,000 more than it
would have been if the condition of the money
market in September and October, 1893, had not
rendered a large issue of bonds a prudent measure
of precaution, still it is to be regretted that there
was any increase whatever. Every effort should be
made during the coming year to prevent any further
increase, and if possible to effect a reduction, in the
net city debt.

NEW LOANS.

It seems to me that under existing conditions
the exercise of the power to borrow money
should be restricted to objects of immediate
and admitted necessity, and to such other im-
provements, valuable in themselves, as will
involve payments for construction rather than
expenditures for land. The park system is
in need of additional money for construction,
and I would recommend a loan of $500,000
for that purpose ; an equal amount could well
be appropriated for public buildings, chiefly for
the city hospital and schools ; and $500,000
might well be allotted to street construction ;
making a total loan for these purposes of

MATOR'S ADDRESS. 11

fl,500,000, A new bridge to Chariestown is
a necessity. These and the proposed extension
of Columbus avenue through Pynchon street to
Franklin Park are improvements which, in my
judgment, might well be provided for at the
present time.

Money for these several items can all be pro-
cured within the debt limit, as the borrowing
capacity of the city is $2,976,852 ; and it is to
be hoped that no application will be made to
the legislature of 1894 for leave to borrow out-
side the debt limit, except in connection with
the proposed subway.

FABES.

It should be our aim to push ttie park system
to completion. The Parkway should be com-
pleted to Franklin Park before the summer ;
but the city has been compelled to pay very
much more for land than was originally esti-
mated, and the result is that the balance of
the loans already authorized available for con-
struction and for the erection of buildings is less
than was anticipated. If the additional appro-
priation already suggested is made, the park
commissioners will be enabled to finish much of
the work which will otherwise be left incomplete.

12 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Land for the park at the North End (author-
ized by Statute 1893, Chapter 282) has been
taken, and the work of demolishing the present
buildings will be commencefd as soon as they
can be vacated.

The metropolitan park commission has begun
its work, and is expected soon to take for park
purposes the woods about Muddy Pond, in West
Roxbury. If this is done, the new park should
be connected with the Boston park system by
constructing a parkway to the Arnold Arbore-
tum or Franklin Park, provided the land-owners
are willing to codperate with the city,

THE STREBT-EAILWAT SYSTEM.

The rejection by popular vote of the so-called
Rapid Transit Act led the city government of
1893 to adopt the alternative measure contained
in Chapter 478 of the Acts of 1893, providing
for the construction of a subway for street-railway
purposes under Tremont street. This action was
taken in the belief that a subway could be
so constructed under Tremont and connecting
streets as to accommodate all the railway tracks
now entering that thoroughfare from the south
and west; that the patrons of the street-railway
system could in this way be furnished with

MATOB'S ADDRESS. 13

quicker transportation and more convenient wait-
ing-places than is possible under existing con-
ditions; that the surface of Tremont street
should be restored to the exclusive use of foot
passengers, carriages, and teams forever; that
the rentals for the use of the subway would
probably be sufficient to cover the interest on the
bonds to be issued under the Act, and to pro-
vide a sinking fund for their payment at
maturity; and that the State legislature and the
city government of 1894 would be prompt to
take such action in the premises as may be
necessary to secure these ends«

I shall this day appoint, subject to confirmation
by the board of aldermen, the three members of the
subway commission; and I trust that the charac-
ter of the gentlemen selected will be taken ias a
guarantee that this great project will either be.
carried out in such manner as most to benefit the.
public and within the appropriations that may
be granted in advance, or not at all.

The subway, if built, will be the property of
the city, and is to be leased on public account at
a rental to be fiLs:ed by the board of railroad
commissioners. It is to be hoped that the West
End Street Railway Company will from the out-
set cooperate with the subway commission and

14 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

the city government in the matter of approaches,
and other details.

The board of aldermen for the current year
could perform no greater public service than to
sanction or direct the removal of many of the
West End tracks, which the company has either
ceased to use, or continues to operate for the
benefit of a few people only, to the inconvenience
of all the rest.

STREET LIGHTING.

The relations between the city and the various
gas companies doing business therein having been
readjusted, it remains to discover what can be done
to secure a wider benefit from the use of electricity
to light our streets and parks. The electric lights
now seen upon the highways have been placed
hap-hazard for the benefit of individual applicants
rather than erected upon a comprehensive plan for
the benefit of the entire community; their cost is
excessive, considering the number of them; and
as the city is not permitted by law to establish
a street-lighting plant of its own, it is at a dis-
advantage in its negotiations with the electric-
light companies.

The legislature should permit cities and towns,
under proper restrictions, to light their own

MAYOB'S ADDRESS. 15

streets and public places; but it is in every way
preferable to conduct this business through the
agency of private corporations if reasonable
terms can be obtained.

The superintendent of lamps informs me that
he is at work upon a comprehensive plan for
extending this branch of municipal service, and
hopes to be able to obtain from the corporations
interested such terms as will warrant its execution.

THE BELIEF OP THE POOR.

The proper action of the city government in
the matter of furnishing employment to the thou-
sands of our citizens who are now unfortunately
out of work is the subject of much discussion
and diversity of opinion; and the present occa-
sion seems opportune for the presentation of cer-
tain fundamental considerations bearing on the
question.

Municipal governments in Massachusetts are the
creatures of the State Legislature, endowed with
^* such powers, privileges, and immimities not re-
pugnant to the constitution, as the general court
shall deem necessary or expedient for the regulation
or government thereof.'' (Amendments to the Con-
stitution, Article II.) They are not miniature States
with power to act upon such political or social

16 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

theories of government as may seem to their mem-
bers wise ; they can raise no more money by taxation
or by loan than is expressly authorized by statute;
they can appropriate and expend this money only for
such purposes as have been permitted by general or
special laws. The city does not, in the opinion of
the Supreme Judicial Court, collect its revenue " as
absolute owner with an unfettered right of disposing
of it for any object which a majority of the voters
might select and determine." It is "received for
the use and benefit of all the inhabitants, not for
any class or portion of them, and can be expended
in such manner and for such purposes as towns
in their corporate capacity are authorized by law
to use and appropriate money, and for no other
object whatever."

It is legally impossible under the laws of Massa-
chusetts for the city of Boston to expend its revenues
or to borrow money for the relief, support, main-
tenance, or employment of the poor, except through
the Overseers of the Poor for the relief of those
unfortunates who are entitled under the provisions
of Chapter 84 of the Public Statutes to assistance
as paupers, or in the manner and to the limited
extent allowed by Chapter 274 of the Acts of 1874;
and in either case a special appropriation is required.

These laws and limitations are enacted at the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 17

State House, not in the City Hall; and if changes
are desired application must be made to the State
Legislature, which alone has the power to enlarge
the functions of our municipal government.

Such appeals, however, should not be lightly
made or hastily granted. The municipal law of
Massachusetts does not differ materially from that
of other States, and is a characteristic application
of the general theory of our American institutions,
the tendency of which is to restrict rather than to
enlarge, the ftinctions of government. This theory,
with the constitutional and other checks and
balances which have been invented, to support it,
is destined to be the chief defence of the Ameri-
can people and their free institutions against the
insidious encroachment of socialism and other for-
eign remedies for the evils of civilization. It is
the original and essential feature of American
democracy; it has in recent years been too fre-
quently departed from; and what is now required
is rather a return to first principles than hasty
and unwise extensions of the objects of public ex-
penditure.

The main reliance of every community in emer-
gencies like the present must be the generosity
and public spirit of its individual citizens. The
people of Boston enjoy a well-deserved reputa-

18 MAYOB'S ADDBESS.

tion for hospitality, charity, and civic pride; and
there is no reason to doubt that they will re-
spond now, as in the past, to all urgent and well-
considered appeals on behalf of poverty and want.

While, however, the city, as a corporation,
cannot expend its money for the sole purpose
of providing employment or relief, except through
the Overseers of the Poor, or by the City Council
imder the special statute referred to ; while the
executive officers of the city must faithfully ex-
pend the appropriations granted by the . City
Council for the purposes designated ; while they
would not be justified either in exceeding these
appropriations or in expending them upon work
which cannot profitably be prosecuted at this
season of the year, — it nevertheless does not
follow that the city and its officers can do
nothing in this emergency.

Much, on the contrary, can properly be done by
the heads of departments, other than the Overseers
of the Poor, in furnishing as much employment
as can be given without increasing the cost or
diminishing the quality of the public work in-
trusted to their care. Building contracts can be
let, under present conditions, upon favorable terms.
Deep-cut sewers can be built as well in winter
as at other seasons of the year; the work of

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 19

grading and filling new streets can be carried
on, though no paving or surfacing can be done
while the frost lasts ; stone can be quarried and
crushed for use in the spring ; an indefinite
amount of labor can at all seasons of the year
be devoted to cleaning the public and private
ways of the city ; and the work of in-door re-
pairs can also be prosecuted at any time.

The activity of the departments in furnishing
work of the above description is limited only by
the appropriations granted by the City Council ;
these, in turn, are limited by the laws 'relating
to taxation and indebtedness ; and within these
limits every effort is being made to accelerate
the progress of public work.

In view of the probability of hard times this
winter and of the possibility of an adverse bond
' market, it was thought prudent in September and
October, 1893, to offer for sale an unusually
large and otherwise unnecessary amount of city
bonds; and as soon as these sales were effected
orders were given to press the work upon the
buildings and other objects for which the pro-
ceeds had been appropriated. Thirty-two build-
ings are now under contract, and twelve
more are almost ready to be advertised. An
extra amount of deep sewer work has been laid

20 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

out, sufficient, it is thought, to keep the entire
force of the sewer division at work. Flans are
being made for the extension of Boylston street,
the widening of Blue Hill avenue, and for other
work of street construction, upon which grading,
clearing, and filling can be done this winter.
Such work upon the parks as can be prosecuted
in winter is now going on; and all the work pos-
sible in the city ledges will soon be under way.
Whether the number of the unemployed be
greater or less than has been stated, it cannot
be doubted that conditions of unusual severity
confront the people this winter. Every citizen
who can afford it should render aid, preferably
in the form of work, to those in need of it;
and this obligation rests with special emphasis
upon public officials, whether elected or appointed.
I take pleasure in acknowledging the alacrity with
which the various heads of departments have re-
sponded to the call for suggestions and assist-
ance, and the generous contributions by city
employees to the fund of

* THE citizen's BELIEF OOMMTTTBE.

In addition to the work undertaken by the city,
the recently organized Citizens' Kelief Committee
is attempting to furnish employment upon the

MAYOR'S ADDBBSS. 21

streets and sewers. Thq street work consists of
cleaning and carting, and is paid for by the com-
mittee, the city furnishing tools and superintend-
ence. The sewer work consists of sewers which
cannot be built at this season of the year, ex-
cept at unwarrantable expense; the city pays
what the work would cost under normal condi-
tions; and the committee makes up the diflference.
This plan of relief is still in its experimental
stage; but if successful, it has the great advan-
tage over any other suggested of Securing the
employment of more men for a given amount sub-
scribed. Every effort is also being made to pro-
vide employment for women, among whom the
amount of distress is not to be measured by the ,
number of applicants for work.

This committee is composed partly of city offi-
cials and partly of well-known and public-spirited
citizens who have volunteered to give their time
and labor this winter to the cause of the unem-
ployed. The community can have absolute confi-
dence in their appreciation of the hard conditions
which surround us, and in their prudence in ad-
ministering relief. The good which this move-
ment can accomplish is obviously limited by the
amounts subscribed by the charitable people of the
city, and I trust that the responses to the com-

22 MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

mittee's appeal for funds will continue to be as
liberal as during the past two weeks.

Oentlemen of the City Council :

The City Council of 1894 will be constituted
somewhat differently, with respect to party hues,
than those with which I have had the pleasure of
serving during the past three years. It should not
be forgotten, however, that the practice of making
party nominations for municipal ofSlces cannot
make party issues out of municipal questions,
unless these enter avowedly into the canvas. The
success of one party or the other may affect ap-
pointments by the Mayor or elections by the City
Council, and the success or failure of the city
government for the year will reflect credit or dis-
credit upon the party which has made itself re-
sponsible for the successful candidates; but with
these qualifications it is literally true that there
are no differences in city government based on
state or national party issues. The questions that
will absorb our attention this year are business,
not party, questions. Let us resolve to approach
the consideration of them in a spirit devoid of
partisanship, political, personal, or local, and to
merit the approbation of our fellow-citizens by
unselfish devotion to the duties we have been
elected to discharge.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.

MAYOR'S MESSAGE ON THE ANNUAL ESTIMATES.

Crrr or Boston, Office of the Matob,

CiTT Hall, January 1, 1894.

To the Honordble the City Council :

Gentlemen: The amount that the city may appropriate from
revenues and taxes for the fiscal year 1894-95 is $13,891,754, pro-
cured as follows:

Department estimates of income • • • • f $775,000

Corporation tax, estimated receipts • . • 875,000

Liquor licenses, estimated net receipts • • • 790,000

Estimated cash on hand February 1, 1894 . • 50,000

Product of $9 law 7,650,686

Extra for county expenses 425,000

Total for department expenditures • • $10,565,686

Interest on city and county debt • $1,580,720
Sinking funds and principal of debt 1,245,348

2,826,068

Total $13,391,754

APPENDICES.

I transmit herewith the department estimates of expenditures,
and my own recommendations in respect thereto are as follows :

Appropriatioiui RocommendatloiM
for 180S-M. for 1804-06.

Architect Department

• • •

$21,000

Assessing Department

• • •

137,000

Auditing Department

• • •

28,700

Board of Aldermen :

Salaries

• • •

18,000

Contingent expenses

• • •

5,500

5,600

Soldiers' relief

• • •

75,000

57,000

City Clerk Department

• • •

70,000

City Council :

Contingent expenses, Joint Committees,

5,500

Incidental expenses

• • «

80,000

30,000

City Messenger Department

25,730

Clerk of Committees Department

11,900

Collecting Department

• • •

84,600

87,000

Common Council :

Clerk's expenses •

4,600

Contingent expenses

5,800

Engineering Department

42,000

35,000

Ferry Department

215,000

Fire Department

1,020,000

1,035,000

Health Department •

140,000

Hospital Department •

260,000

Inspection of Buildmgs Department •

68,500

66,500

Board of Appeal

• • •

2,000

Inspection of Milk and

Vinegar De-

partment

• • •

12,500

Amounts carried fonvard

$2,281,330 $2,273,730

APPENDICES.

125

Ai»proprl«tloiii BeoommendatIon«
forl80S-04. forl8M-«S.

Amounts brought forward

. $2,281,380

$2,273,780

Inspection of ProviBions .

3,225

8,225

Lamp Department

545,245

580,000

Law Department

31,000

Library Department .

151,000

155,000

Market Department .

12,450

Mayor

31,000

Mt. Hope Cemetery Department

10,000

5,000

Overseeing of the Poor Department

110,000

Park Department

80,000

110,000

Police Department •

1,261,000

1,290,000

Printing Department .

45,000

Public Buildings Department

145,000

Public Buildings, schools •

190,000

Public Celebrations •

25,000

15,000

Public Grounds Department

90,000

50,000

Public Institutions Department .

625,000

Registration of Voters Department

46,500

Registry Department •

33,500

Reserved Fund . • • •

57,955

75,081

School Committee

1,804,000

1,850,000

Sealing of W eights and Measures Def

)'t, 19,953

19,950

Sinking-Fund Department .

2,500

Street Department:

Central Office . . • •

20,000

Bridge Division

135,000

125,000

Cambridge-Bridges Division .

13,000

Paving Division

850,000

800,000

Sanitary Division .

470,000

450,000

Amounts carried forward

. $9,088,658

$9,106,986

26 APPENDICES.

AppropriAtioiu
fbrl8QS-M.

RMomiii«DdMioiif
for 1804-M.

Amounts brought fortoard^

$9,088,658

$9,106,986

Sewer Division

850,000

820,000

Street-Cleaning Division,

290,000

272,000

Watering Division •

100,000

Street Laying-Oat Department, 17,500

17,500

Sarveying Department

45,000

85,000

••

Treasury Department

89,250

Hoose of Correction .

100,000

County, general expenses •

525,000

575,000

City Debt Requirements :

Sinking Funds, $1,176,842

$1,178,672

Interest . 1,550,000

1,450,000

2,726,842

o f!oq f»70

County Debt Re-

quirements :

Sinking Fund

and principal

of debt . $62,877

$66,676

Interest • 121,000

188,877

180,720

1AT OOA

Totals ... 1

118,465,627

$18,891,754

Water-Income Department :

Cochitnate Water- Works,

$50,620

150,000

Mystic Water-Works

12,680

10,500

$68,800 $60,500

APPENDICES. 27

Water-Supply Department :
Cochitaate Water-Works :
Current expenses
Interest • • • .
Sinking-Fand Reqairements
Extension of Mains •

ApproprUtlonii !
forlW8-M.

Eteeonunendatloiii
for 18M-«6.

$390,000

831,748

839,117

229,520

229,380

250,000

$1,451,268

$1,708,497

Mystio Water- Works ;
Current expenses • . . $128,000 00 $128,000 00
Interest 16,827 50 2,550 00

$144,827 50 $130,550 00

Bespectfnlly submitted,

N. Matthews, Jb.,

Mayor.

28 APPENDICES.

APPENDIX B.

AUDITOR'S STATEMENT^

Cnr AND Couirrr Debt.

Gross funded debt, Deo. 81, 1892 • • . $57,083,563 19
Add funded debt issued in 1893 .... 6,115,525 00

$63,199,088 19
Deduot funded debt paid in 1893 . • . 7,367,453 04

Gross debt, Dec. 31, 1893 $55,831,635 15

Sinking funds, Dec. 31, 1892 . $26,229,496 86
Receipts during 1893 . • • 2,675,145 03

$28,904,641 89
Payments during 1893 • . . 7,203,747 07

$21,700,894 82
Bonds, betterments, etc., the

payment of which is pledged

to the payment of debt:
Bonds • . • $3,587 00
Betterments, etc. . 115,747 69
Sidewalk assessments,

chap. 401, Acts of

1892 . . . 145,548 42
Sewer assessments,

chap. 402, Acts of

1892 . • . 138,168 73
Sidewalk assessments,

chap. 437, Acts of

1893 . . . 7,576 56

410,628 40

Total redemption means Deo. 31, 1893 . • 22,111,523 22
Net debt, Dec. 31, 1893 .... $33,720,111 93

APFENDICBS. 29

Gross debt, Deo. 31, 1892 .... $57,083,563 19
Gross debt, Dec. 31, 1893 .... 55,831,635 15

Decrease $1,251,928 04

Net debt, Deo. 31, 1893 $33,720,111 93

Net debt, Deo. 31, 1892 30,539,289 97

Increase $8,180,821 96

Net debt, Dec. 31, 1893 $33,720,111 93

Net debt, Dec. 31, 1890 31,053,496 98

Increase $2,666,614 95

City debt, indading balance of debts assumed

by acts of annexation $35,019,361 17

County debt . . • . . . • 3,659,000 00

Cochitnate water debt 17,051,273 98

Mystic water debt 102,000 00

$55,831,635 15

APPENDICES.

LOANS AUTHORIZED BY SPECIAX STATUTES OUT-
SIDE OF DEBT LIMIT OTHER THAN FOR WATER-
WORKS.

1880.
1887.
1887.
1887.
1887.
1887.
1888.
1880.
1880.
1880.

1880.

1800.

1801.
1801.
1801.

1802.

1808.

Ohap.

804.
101.
282.
812.
804.
428.
802.
88.
254.
288.

822.
271

801.
824.
828.

288.

478.

Objeei.

Pnbllo Park Oonitrnctioii . . .

Suifolk Ooanty €k»nit.Hoiuei .

HuTwrd Brtdg*

Pablio Park Land!

Sewar, Tremont ft. •

Stony-brook ImproTament . .

Public Park Laoda

Naw Library Building . . • .

W. Cheitar-park Bxtanaion . .

Congreu-0t. and Oliver-at. Ex-
tonaion

Improvad Sawaraga

Pnblio Parks, Charlaatown . .

PnblioParki

Naw Library Building . . • .
Laying Ovt and Oonttraetton of

•iSf

ways'

Suffolk County Oonrt-Houaa,
Fumiahing

Subway ...........

Amount
Authorized.

$2,600,000 00

260,000
400,000
* 76,000
600,000
600,000
1,000,000
> 76,000

00
00
00
00
00
00
00

1600,000 00
600,000 00

200,000 00

8,600,000 00
1,000,000 00

100,000 00
2,000,000 00

Date of
Approval.

June

Mar.

May

June

May

Mar.

Apra

21. 1886 .

21. 1887 .
18, 1887 .
26,1887.
11, 1887 .
16, 1887 .
28,1888.

1,1880.
12, 1880 .

April 26, 1880 •

May 0, isao .

May Sand {
June 28,18001

May 7, 1801 .
May 11, 1801 .

May 0, 1802 .
June 10, 1808 .

Amount
laaued.

$2,600,000 00

2,781,000 00

260,000 00

400,000 00

600,000 00

1,000,000 00

600,000 00

200,000 00

2,401,000 00
700,000 00

1,000,000 00

100,000 00

1 $2,600,000 in addition to tbe ooit of Und. Ooat of land, $1,066,460.60; $2,781,000 author-
ised by Oity Oounoil.

> Kerer approved by City Council.

• Not exceeding $1,000,000 each year— debt authorized in 1801 ($600,000).lniide of debt
limit; debt authorized after 1801 outaide of debt limit..

APPENDICES.

LOANS ISSUED IN 1898.

D»te of Order.

Not. 18, 1889 • . .
May 20, 1891 . . .
Ma720,1891 . . .

Oct. 24, 1891 . • .
Dee. 6, 1891 ....

Jan. 2, 1892 . . . .

Jan. 28, 1892 . . .

Kay 24, 1892 . . .

June 1, 1892 • . .

Jalyll,1892 . . .

Ang.24,1892 . . .

Aug. 26, 1892 . . .

Oot. 7, 1892 . . . .

Oct 7, 1892 . . . .

Feb. 15,1893 . . .

June 26, 1898 . . .

jQl7lO,1893 . . .

Oct. 28, 1898 . . . .

Oot. 27, 1893. . . .

Object.

Additional Bupply of Water
PabUo Parke

Laying Out and Oonetmetton of
ulghwaya

Library Bnllding, Dartmouth Street

L«treet Bridge

New BnlldingB, City Hoapital . . .

ImproTed Sewerage ••••••••

Varlooa Municipal Porpoiee, 1892 .

High Service

Suffolk Oonnty Ooart-HouM, For-
niahing

New Lunatic Hoapital . •

Suffolk County Ooart-Honae . . • .

Addittonal Land, City Hoapital. . .

Street Laying Out Department . . •

Laying Out and Oonatruotion of
Highways

Emox and Lincoln Streeta

Variona Municipal Purpoeea, 1898 .

Stony-brook Damagea

Suffolk County Couit-Houae, Far.
nlflhing

Included in
Debt Limit.

Inalde Debt Limit . . $8,091,025 00
Outaide Debt Limit . 8,024.600 00

$6,116,626 00

$248,200 00

80,000 00
186,600 00
100,000 00
919,726 00

166,000 00

42,000 00
10,000 00

960,600 00

1,164,100 00

80,000 00

$8,091,026 00

OuUide Debt
Limit.

$217,600 00
1,401,000 00

600,000 00

75,000 00
60,000 00

106,000 00

500,000 00

76,000 00

$3,024,500 00

APPENDICES.

LOANS AUTHORIZED BUT NOT ISSUED, DEC. 81, 1893.

Date of Order.

Olijeot.

Inside
Debt IJmlt.

Ontolde
Debt liimlt.

Not. 18, 1880 . . .
May 20, 1801 .. .
Oot. 24, 1801 ...
Jan. 23,1802 . • •
April 28, 1808 . . .
May 17, 1808 .. .
Jaly 10, 1808 . . .
Dec. 20, 1808 . . .
Deo. 80, 1808 . . .

Additional Sannlr of Water ....

•10,000 00

1,000,000 00

800,000 00

2,600,000 00
600,000 00

Pablio Parke .

library Building, Dartmouth Street,

Improved Sewerage

AdditioDf^l BqodIt of Water • . • .

•60,000 00

Pablio Park, Wards 0 and T ....
Variona Mnnioipal Pnrpoaea, 1808 .

Laying Oat and Oonetraotlon of High-
way! ...••.••...••..

1860,000 00

1,860,000 00

860,000 00

•2,000,000 00

•4.400,000 00

Indde Debt Limit .
Outiride Debt limit .

, •2.000.000 00

4,400,000 00

•0,400,000 00

1 Chap. 282, Aots of 1808, anthorises the Olty of Boston to take land for a pablie park or
playgronnd in Wards 8 and 7, the assessed Taloation of said land not to exceed •800,000;
also aathorices the expenditure of ^60,000 for preparing said land for pablie use.

James H. Dodge,

City Auditor.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX C.

Assessors' Office, Cttt Hall,

Boston, January 1, 1894.
Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jb.,

Mayor of the OUy of Boston:

Sib : We herewith transmit a statement of the Assessors* valna-

tions for the preceding five years, and the abatements thereon

allowed previous to the thirty-first day of December. Also

the average of such valuations reduced by such abatements.

TMr.

Vftlnatlona.

AbataoMnto.

1889

$795,943,043 71

$9,384,600

1890

822,460,400 00

7,847,100

1891

855,413,414 62

9,006,100

1892

895,993,704 00

9,880,000

1898

924,425,251 72

7,736,700

Totals .

. $4,294,235,814 05

$43,854,500

Less abatements

43,854,500 00

$4,250,881,314 05

Divided by 5, gives $850,076,262.

For the Board of Assessors,

Frank A. Drew,

Secretary.

34 APPENDICES

APPENDIX D.

COLLECTINQ DePARTMEKT, CiTT UaLL,

Boston, December 31, 1898.

Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jr.,

Mayer of the City of Boston:

Sib: The assessments committed to the Collector for the
financial year beginning February 1, 1893, not including Co-
chituate and Mystic water-rates, amount to 818,418,958.53.
Of this amount there has been, to December 81, 1898, $11,182,-
092.67 collected; •120,948.17 abated, and 82,165,922.69 remains
ancollected. This includes the State, City, and County taxes,
$11,989,720.72, of which $9,845,088.89 has been collected;
$95,662.64 abated; leaving $1,999,019.19 unpaid, and the Bank
tax, $821,715.20, all of which has been paid.

The Cochituate water-rates, assessed on the first of January,
1898, and additional and meter-rates assessed during the year,
amount to $1,671,894.59. There has been paid of these rates
$1,489,054.68; abated, $14,458.02 ; leaving $217,881.94 unpaid.

The Mystic water-rates for the same time stand as follows:
Assessed, $429,718.55; paid, $891,491.20; abated, $5,088.65;
unpaid, $88,138.70.

The total receipts from all sources, from February 1, 1898, to
December 31, 1893, inclusive, amount to $16,528,958.16.

A general summary of the accounts shows that the balance
of bills and assessments outstanding

APPENDICBS. 35

January 1, 1898, was $2,769,771 48

The assessments from Jan. 1, 1898, to Dec.

81, 1898 16,712,524 89

Cash deposits, from Jan. 1, 1898, to Dec.

81, 1898 2,809,526 64

Total amount charged to Collector $21,291,822 96

Of this amount the Collector is credited, with

abatements $877,284 45

Cash paid City Treasurer .... 17,606,414 29

Balance uncollected 8,808,174 22

$21,291,822 96

The following statement shows the amount of the Assessors'

warrants for three years:

1891-92 $10,860,874 76

1892-98 11,656,484 92

1898-94 11,939,720 72

and the collections, abatements, and amounts outstanding thereon

to December 81st of the respective years:

1891-92. Collected . . $9,080,584 85 or 88.1%

Abated • . 61,089 22 << .6%

Uncollected . . 1,769,251 19 '' 16.8%

$10,860,874 76

1892-98. Collected . . . $9,903,985 81 or 85. %
Abated 85,985 07 '' .7%

Uncollected 1,666,514 54 '' 14.8%

$11,656,484 92

36 APPENDICES.

1893-94. GoUected . . . $9,845,038 89 or 82.5%
Abated • . 95,662 64 '« .8%

Unoollected . • 1,999,019 19 '' 16.7%

$11,939,720 72

^^^^MHM|

BespectfoUy submitted,

Jakes W. Bicker,

City Collector.

APPBNDICBS. 37

APPENDIX E.

BORROWING CAPACITY.

CiTT OF Boston.
BoABD OF Commissioners of Sinking Funds, ^

Cnr Hall, January 1, 1894.

Hon. Nathan Matthew|, Jb.,

Mayor of the City of Boston :

Sir: In accordance with the provisions of chap. 98,
Acts of 1891, it is estimated that the amount which the
city will be able to borrow during the present municipal
year within the debt limit established by law is $2,976,852,
as per schedule annexed.

A. Dayib Weld,

Hbnbt R. Reed,

Samuel Johnson,

Joseph H. Gbat,

Chas. H. Allen,

Nathaniel J. Rust,

Board of Commissioners of Sinking Funds.

Alfred T. Turner,

City Th'ecLSurer.

James H. Dodge,

City Auditor.

38 APPENDICES.

Total Debt, City and County, Dec. 81, 1898 . $55,881,685 15

Less Special Loana (ontside of limit) . . ^,551,000 00

Cocliituate Water Debt .... 17,051,278 98

Mystic Water Debt .... 102,000 00

Comity Debt (ontside of limit) . . 2,881,000 00

29,585,278 98

1,480 88 I

$26,246,861 17

Sinking Funds $21,700,894 82

Less Cochitnate Water Sinking
Fnnd .... $7,528,198 88

Mystic Water Sinking Fnnd, 264,045 56

Pnblic Park Constmction Sink-
ing Fnnd .... 471,

Special Loana Sinking Fnnd, 551,982 66

County Court-House Sinking

Fnnd 205,898 72

9,015,995 70

12,684,899 12

Debt, excluding Loans outside of limit, and deducting Sink-
ing Fund for said debt '. . $18,561,462 05

Two per cent, on $819,818,202, ayerage valuation for flye

years, less abatements $16,886,264 04

Debt as aboye 18,561,462 05

$9,824,801 99

Average valuation for five years, less abate-
ments to Dec. 81, 1898 .... $850,076,262

Average valuation for five years, less abate-
ments to Dec. 81, 1892 .... 819,818,202

Two per cent, on increase $80,768,060 615,261 20

Interest on Investments, Jan. 1, 1894 . 69,185 00

Right to borrow, Jan. 1, 1894 $8,509,198 00

APPENDICB8. 39

Right to borrow, Jan. 1 9 1894 .... $3,509,19800

April 1, 1894. Interest on Investments 120,467 00

July 1, 1894. '» an 62,775 00

Oct. 1, 1894. *i ^' u , . 120,000 00

«' 1, 1894. Debt paid from Appropriation . 17,000 00

Nov. 1,1894. Appropriation for Debt . 963,517 00

Dec. 31,1894. Sterling Debt Redeemed . 80,000 00

«^ 81, 1894. Interest on Bank Deposits 50,000 00

Jan. 1,1895. Interest on Investments . . 53,895 00

$4,976,852 00
Less loans authorized, bu| not negotiated . . 2,000,000 00

$2,976,852 00

40 APPENDICES.

APPENDIX F.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

Cmr OF Boston.
Office of Cnr Trbasureb,

Cur Hall, December 80, 1893.

Hon. Nathan Matthews, Jb.,

Mayor of the City of Boston :

Sib: The balance of cash in the Treasury of the City of
Boston, December 80, 1898, was $4,596,458.02, held for the
following purposes:

For General Appropriations .... SI, 701,217 40 ^
For Special Appropriations, money derived

from loans 2,647,892 18

For Special and Trust Accounts 247,848 49

$4,596,458 02

Respectfully yours,

Alfbed T. Tcbneb,

City Treasurer.

f.l

j\\ <)v^A.> /J^fK.- > \ 1 ■ '1. S . S.0

[Document 1 — 1895.]

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

EDWIN UPTON CURTIS,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY 7, 1895.

---.nS^^-:

BOSTON:
Rockwell and CHxmcHiLL, City Printsrs.

1895.

.is

[Document 1 — 1895.]

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

EDWIN UPTON CURTIS,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY 7, 189J.

^^- •'^ i-^ ' ^^

BOST(D>]SriA 4?/

BOSTON:
Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

1895.

I JCI IZ 16SL

^. /^.^Su^w.

CITY OF BOSTON.

In Board of Aldermen,

January 7, 1895.

Ordered^ That His Honor the Mayor be requested to
furnish the City Council with a copy of his inaugural
address for publication.

Passed. Sent down for concurrence.

At.fheus Sanford,

Ohairman.

In Common Council, January 7, 1895.

Concurred.

Chris. F. O'Brien,

PresidevU.
A true copy.

Attest:

J. M. Galvin,

Oity Clerk.

ADDRESS.

€kntlemen of the City Council:

It is customary for the Mayor, upon assuming
oflBice, to state to the City Council the condition of
the city, and to make such recommendations as his
experience and judgment may suggest. Accordingly
I ask your attention to the result of such investiga-
tion as I have been able to make into our municipal
affairs, and to my views upon what I consider the
most important subjects demanding action at your
hands. Any statement of the city's financial condi-
tion must, of necessity, be based on information
gleaned from the reports or communications received
from the heads of the various departments.

The policy of the new administration cannot be
fully discussed at this time, the interval between
election and inauguration being too short for an
exhaustive study of the problems that confront a
new executive. I shall, however, during the year
give my best efforts to their solution.

I shall refrain at this time from criticism of the
departments, as the ordinance requires a report from

4 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

each officer or board in charge of a department
immediately after the close of the financial year,
January 31st. From these reports should be obtamed
a definite knowledge of what has been accomplished,
together with the receipts and expenditures of each
department. An opinion given now might do those
in charge of the departments an injustice. I shall
insist, however, that the requirements of the ordi-
nance be strictly complied with, especially as to the
time when the reports shall be made.

To you belong the legislative, to me the executive,
functions of the government, and although the line
of separation is often finely drawn, it is not my
intention to encroach upon your field.

FINANCE.

The revenue of the city and county may be classed
under two heads ; namely, revenue raised by taxation,
and revenue derived from other sources.

The revenue for the coming year can be fairly
estimated as follows:

Prom taxation ($9 limit) . $7,891,149 00

From taxation for county expenses . 425,000 00
Income of the city from other

sources 2,598,665 00

A total of . . . $10,914,814 00

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 5

The amount needed for interest and sinking-fund
requirements of the city debt must be raised by
taxation, and is not included in the nine-dollar
limit law. For the coming year it will be $3,-
098,229, which, added to the sum given above, viz.,
$10,914,814, makes a total of $14,013,043, which
the city government can appropriate for the annual
expenditures for the city of Boston and the county
of Suffolk.

The estimate for the total county expenses for
1894-95 is 1734,750.

Money derived from loans within the debt limit
can be used for permanent improvements only, un-
less the Mayor certifies that public necessity requires
the borrowing of the same for current expenses.
The borrowing capacity of the city during the
coming year will be |2,337,074.

Loans outside the debt limit can be made only
by legislative authority, and application to the Leg-
islature for this authority should be made only
when there exists a need that cannot otherwise be
provided for.

The appropriations made to meet the interest on
the city debt, exclusive of water debt, and for the
sinking-fund and debt requirements, reached the
highest mark in 1892-93, when the amount was
$3,150,420. For the year 1894-95 the amount is

b MAYOR'S ADDRBSS.

$2,826,068. For the year 1895-96 the amount will
be $3,098,229.

The following table shows the financial condition
of the city December 31, 1890:

Gross debt of the city . . $55,440,361 06

Sinking-fund and other redemption

means ....... 24,386,864 08

Net debt $31,053,496 98

Add loans authorized but not issued. 789,000 00

Net debt and loans authorized but

not issued $31,842,496 98

The following table shows the financial condition
of the city December 31, 1894:

Gross debt $58,654,211 56

Sinking-fund and other redemption

means 22,160,347 14

Net debt $36,493,864 42

Add loans authorized but not issued,

not including loans authorized by

Rapid Transit Act ... 5,490,000 00

Net debt and loans authorized but

not issued $41,983,864 42

Increase in the net debt during the

past four years .... $5,440,367 44

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

Increase in the net debt and loans

authorized and not issued during

the past four years . . $10,141,367 44

The cash on hand December 31,

1890, was $5,939,227 36

The cash on hand December 31,

1894, was $3,135,663 49

Let us face the fact squarely at the outset that
the net debt must increase during the coming year
on accoimt, not of what we are yet to do, but on
account of what has been done already. It will in-
crease because of the charges imposed upon us by
the Rapid Transit Act and by the issuing of bonds
now authorized to pay for work already commenced
and from other causes. The interest and sinking-
fund requirements of these loans will also necessarily
increase the tax-rate.

The amount borrowed within the debt limit for

it five years is

as follows:

1890

$2,281,000 00

1891

1,090,000 00

1892

1,992,800 00

1893

3,091,025 00

1894

3,309,800 00

A total of

. $11,764,625 00

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

As stated above, there can be borrowed within
the debt limit during 1895 about $2,337,074.

The amount borrowed outside the debt limit (other
than for water-works) during the past five years is
as follows:

1890

$2,411,000 00

1891

1,389,000 00

1892

650,000 00

1893

2,732,000 00

1894

1,789,000 00

A total of

$8,971,000 00

The assessors' valuation for the past five years
and the abatements thereon, allowed previous to
December 31, 1894, are as follows:

Tear.

Valiiattoii.

AbatemenU.

1890 .

$822,460,400 00

$7,847,100 00

1891

855,420,414 62

8,152,559 00

1892 .

895,997,104 00

10,153,300 00

1893 .

924,446,151 72

9,821,400 00

1894

928,461,442 53

6,839,200 00

Total

. $4,426,785,512 87

$42,813,559 00

Less aba

tements, 42,813,559 00

$4,383,971,953 87

The average valuation for the past five years is

^ •

»
*

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 9

$876,794,390. Upon this average valuation the
tax for 1895 will be assessed under the nine-dol-
lar limit law. The average valuation for the five
years preceding 1894 was $850,076,262. Upon
that average valuation the tax for 1894 was
assessed. The increase in the amount that may be
raised under the nine-dollar limit law in 1895 over
the amount raised in 1894 will be $240,463, and
the increase from other sources will be about $108,-
665. Does the increase in revenue equal the increased
demands upon our finances ? Assuming that no more
money was appropriated last year than was neces-
sary, we have only $349,128 additional to spend this
year. Under Chapter 177 of 1887 the Board of Police
is authorized to appoint a reserve force of police as
authorized by the city. The Board of Police is now
authorized to appoint one hundred men as a reserve
force. By Section 2 of said Act all appointments to
the regular police force shall be made from the re-
serve force, and a service of six months as a reserve
officer is required before promotion. Under existing
laws, therefore, it will not be possible to appoint
during the present year more than 200 of the 321
patrolmen authorized by the last City Council, and
this addition will cost for the term of service to
February 1, 1896, about $142,000. With the open-
ing of the new hospital buildings an additional

10 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

amount of from $100,000 to $115,000 must be
given to the appropriation for current expenses in
that department, the schools must have $100,000
more for current expenses. Increased appropriations
will be absolutely necessary in other departments,
which will more than use up the additional income.

PUBLIC PARES.

The loan of $1,000,000 made January 4, 1895,
under authority given by Chapter 396 of 1894, is
the last loan that can be made under existing
laws for park purposes, except that which will be
required to pay for lands taken for the North End
park, and which is not limited in amount. Of this
$1,000,000 there was required, December 31, 1894,
$350,000 to pay judgments then outstanding, to-
gether with settlements agreed upon to be paid after
January 1, 1895. To pay the balance due on
contracts entered into prior to December 31, 1894,
there was required $250,000. The assessed valua-
tion of lands already taken for which verdicts have
not been given is $100,000, but judging from past
experience the amount required to pay for these
lands will be double their assessed value, or $200,-
000. It is apparent, therefore, that of the $1,000,-
000 loan above mentioned, the sum of $800,000
was already mortgaged December 31, 1894, leaving
a balance of only $200,000 for future expenditure.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 11

In my judgment it is time to suspend ithe
further acquisition of lands for park purposes.

The work already commenced should be finished.
The Strandway, the land for which has already
been taken and paid for, should not, in my
judgment, be built until our financial condition
will . warrant the great outlay needed for the
undertaking. My knowledge of the work already
commenced and necessary to place the land already
acquired in condition for the present requirements
of the system is too limited for me to state
positively whether or not we can get along with-
out further loans outside the debt limit, but I
believe that authority for further loans for park
purposes should not be asked of the Legislature
at its present session, if we can possibly avoid it.
To maintain the parks we already have will require
during the present year $175,000, according to the
estimate of the department, and their maintenance
coming out of the revenue derived from taxation
and income of the city is a heavy charge to meet.
I believe in our parks, and enjoy them in common
with others, but am of the opinion that we have
expended and undertaken in this direction all that
we can afford at the present time.

In addition to our own system of parks, which
have already cost over $12,000,000, the Common-

12 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

wealth in 1893 appointed a board known as the
Metropolitan Park Commission, who have already
taken about six thousand acres of land for park
purposes in "Greater Boston;" and it is now in
their power, limited only by appropriation by the
Legislature, to connect the large areas already
acquired, and those to be acquired, by boulevards
and parkways encircling the city of Boston and
running through the cities and towns of the
Metropolitan District. The Legislature has already
authorized this commission to expend $2,300,000,
but even more money will be needed to carry on
its work.

Now, by statute the city of Boston is to pay for the
first five years fifty per cent, of the whole sinking-
fund and interest requirements of the loans issued
under the authority of the act establishing the board.
After the first five years, the proportion Boston is
to pay is to be fixed by a commission, but it
probably will not be less than fifty per cent. The
city's proportion of the Metropolitan sewerage loan,
the armory loan, and the expense of abolishing
grade crossings already amounts to a considerable
sum, and next year our payments to the State
must reach a sum which may seriously affect the
finances of the city.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 13

STREETS AND SEWERS.

Under the acts relating to the laying out and
the construction of highways and private ways,
and the making of sewers in the city of Boston,
passed in the years 1891-94, commonly known
as the " Board of Survey Act," there have been laid
out Blue Hill avenue, Columbus avenue, Huntington
avenue. Commonwealth-avenue extension over South
street, Brighton, and various other streets. Sewers
have also been built, and other sewers ordered on
which work has not yet commenced. There have
also been incurred expenses for the maintenance of
the Board of Survey. The following table shows
the land damages awarded and estimated by the
Street Commissioners, the estimated cost of con-
struction of the streets and sewers, and the expenses
of the Board of Survey:

■ 4

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Bine Hill ayenne ....

ColambuB aTenue ....

Huntington avenue . . .

Commonwealth-avenue ex-
tension over South street,
Brighton

Sewers, to complete

Sewers ordered but not
commenced

Various other streets . .

Board of Survey expenses,
estimated for 1896 . .

Land DamagM.

#76,875 00
926,986 00
230,353 00

44,191 00

$1,278,405 00

Oonstruetioii,
Street and Sewer.

•500,000 00
825,000 00
350,000 00

70,000 00
102,000 00

178,000 00
185,227 00

•1,710,227 00

Total.

#576,875 00

1,251,986 00

580,353 00

114,191 00
102,000 00

178,000 00
185,227 00

70,000 00

$3,058,632 00

The following table shows the balance of the
appropriation December 31, 1894, with the amount
that can be borrowed imder these acts during the
year ending December 31, 1895, and the estimate
of the amount of the sinking-fund :

Balance of appropriation .
Loan authorized but not negotiated .
Loan that may be authorized .
Sinking-fund, estimated

Total amoimt available between De-
cember 31, 1894, and December 31,

lo«7U ..••••

$121,357 41

1,000,000 00

500,000 00

300,000 00

$1,921,357 41

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 15

It will be seen from these tables that the es-
timated amount of money required to complete
these avenues and sewers is $3,058,632, and with
the amount that will be available to December 31,
1895, is $1,921,357.41, or $1,137,274.59 less than
the amount estimated to be required for the land
damages and construction. We shall, therefore, not
only be unable to construct the avenues and
sewers already laid out, but we shall be unable to
spend anything on new streets and sewers from
the funds obtained under this act if we decide
to spend all our available means on these under-
takings already commenced.

I commend to the careful consideration of the City
Council the report of the Committee on School-houses
recently made to the School Committee, from which
it appears that the school accommodations furnished
by the city of Boston for the education of its youth
have not kept pace with the growth of the city,
and that the amount of money "now needed" for
the purchase of sites and the erection of school-houses
is $2,357,000 ; also, that the sanitary condition of some
of the school-houses, especially the older buildings, is
bad. The amount of money estimated to be required
immediately to perfect the sanitary condition of our
school-houses is $100,000. It also appears from
this report that the city is now paying in the

16 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

neighborhood of $20,000 per year for hired rooms
for the accommodation of upwards of 2,000 children.
These rooms are in buildings which were not con-
structed for schools, and are consequently wanting
in the proper sanitary arrangements and ventilation.
They are improperly lighted and heated, and in
general are not adapted for school purposes. When-
ever one of these buildings is taken a large outlay
of money is required to put it into even passable
condition for the use of the pupils. It wovdd
appear, therefore, that the city of Boston is paying
in the way of rent for hired buildings for schools
a sum of money which would nearly, if not quite,
equal the interest on $500,000 at 4 per cent, per
annum.

If the figures and facts given in this report are
to be relied upon (and we may assume that they are,
because the committee making this report are in a
position to know the facts), it will be impossible for
the City Council to provide from the tax levy or
from loans within the debt limit so large an amount
of money in the next few years for this purpose,
taking into consideration the many other require-
ments upon our finances. It appears to have been
the judgment of the last City Coimcil that money
for this purpose be borrowed outside the debt limit,
and an order was passed requesting the Mayor to

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 17

petition the Legislature for that authority. The
City Council might well consider also the source
from which to derive the means to maintain these
schools (even when built) up to the proper stand-
ard of efficiency as regards teachers, attendants,
repairs, and supplies, while the calls upon our
limited means are so great from the many other
departments.

HOUSE OF CORRECTION.

The demand for a new House of Correction for
Suffolk County is imperative, and presents another
problem for solution. The resources of the city
must be further taxed to supply this demand. I
sincerely hope that the necessary funds will be
provided to erect a prison that will be a credit
to the city; a prison constructed upon the most
approved plans for the scientific and humane treat-
ment of its inmates.

POLICE.

The park police should be placed under control
of the Board of Police, so that the entire police
force may be under one head, thus concentrating
responsibility and avoiding any conflict of authority.
This change would not increase the number of men
patrolling the different districts, but the officers

18 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

serving as park police could perform duty in case
of emergency outside the park limits, which under
the present arrangement they cannot do. In effect-
ing this change, the men who are now serving as
police oflScers under the Park Department should
be transferred without being required to undergo
examination. The Police Department is very much
in need of more commodious headquarters for the
transaction of its business. The building used for
headquarters in Pemberton square was formerly a
dwelling-house, and in the number and size of the
rooms is inadequate to the demands of the depart-
ment. I am informed that 103 officers, clerks, and
other employees are now accommodated at head-
quarters, and that the average number of visitors
to headquarters per day is between 700 and 1,000.
I commend this subject to your consideration.

COMMISSION ON FINANCES.

In view of the financial condition of the city, and
the fact that the amount of money received annually
by way of taxes on the increase in valuation is not
equal to the annual increase in expenditures, I recom-
mend that authority be given to the Mayor to appoint,
subject to confirmation by the Board of Aldermen, a
paid commission of three citizens of Boston to ex-
amine into the finances of the city, to report their

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 19

findings in writing within three months of the date
of their appointment; to recommend what changes,
if any, are necessary in the laws governing the sink-
ing-funds, in the laws governing taxation, in the laws
governing the loan power of the city, and in the gen-
eral financial methods of the city. The term of oflBce
of said commissioners should expire when their report
is presented to the Mayor. The expense necessary for I
the salaries of the commissioners and for the prosecu-
tion of their work should be charged to the appro-
priation for incidental expenses of the City Council.
The salaries and amounts allowed for expenses of the
commission should be determined by the Mayor.

BOARD OF ELECTION.

The election machinery of this city is controlled by
the Mayor, the Board of Aldermen, the City Clerk,
the Registrars of Voters, and the Superintendent of
Public Buildings. The details, however, are in charge
of the City Clerk and the Registrars of Voters.

To determine contested nomiaations the City Solic-
itor is also joined with the City Clerk and the Regis-
trars of Voters. The machinery is, in my opinion,
too cumbersome, the responsibility too much divided,
and the expense greater than is necessary. The
City Clerk, on whose office the greater part of the
work falls, has without this enough to do to at-

20 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

tend to the routine duties of his office, which is
the record office of the city. Additional duties,
entailed by the Australian ballot law and the
Caucus Act, greatly interfere with and retard the
routine work of the office, to the disadvantage of
every person having business there, and at certain
seasons of the year place upon the City Clerk and
his assistant a responsibility greater than they
should be called upon to bear. I think every
other great city in the country has a Board of
Election which has charge of the whole election
machinery.

I believe that the city of Boston should have a
Board of Election, consisting of four commissioners,
selected two from each of the great political
parties, appointed by the Mayor for a term of five
years, and subject to removal only for cause by the
Mayor, with the approval of the Civil Service Com-
missioners. Said board should have and exercise
all the powers and duties conferred by law upon
the Mayor, Board of Aldermen, City Clerk, and
Registrars of Voters relating to the preparation of
ballots, the care of ballot-boxes, the registration of
voters, the recounting of ballots, and determining
results, and all other matters relating to elections
in the city, and also the duties of the Registrars
of Voters in the preparation of the jury list.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 21

Experience has shown that the Caucus Act needs
further amending, and when amended all the duties
now imposed upon the City Clerk or other city
officers by said act should be performed by the
Board of Election.

Some provisions should be made that, in the
determination of contested nominations and other
matters where the board is divided equally in its
decision, a justice of some court should be joined
to the board to cast the deciding vote. The
enactment of a law establishing a Board of Elec-
tion must of necessity abolish the Board of Registrars
of Voters.

This matter of a Board of Election I believe to
be one of the changes most needed in our system of
government, and one which will meet with the
approval of every person who has given the matter
any thought, or who from experience knows of the
difficulties which arise under the present system.

WATER.

Under the present ordinances of the city the Bos-
ton Water Board has charge of the Water-Supply
Department only, while another department is main-
tained for the purpose of assessing rates, making
contracts for the use of water, receiving applications,
examining water-fixtures, and supervising the use of

22 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

water. This second department is known as the
Water-Income Department, and is under the charge
of the Water Registrar. I do not approve of
this arrangement. The expense is too great and
responsibility is divided. I recommend that the
Water-Income Department be abolished, and that
all the powers and duties of the Water Registrar
be given to the Water Board or its successor.

This consolidation of the two water departments
into one will save expense, concentrate responsibility,
and increase efficiency. In 1875 the City Council
was authorized to unite the Cochituate and Mystic
Water Boards, and in March, 1876, an ordinance
to establish the Boston Water Board was passed.
The Water-Income Department was created by ordi-
nance. It will be seen, therefore, that the very
desirable and economical change here recommended
can be made by ordinance. I commend the matter
to your careful consideration.

ENGINEERING AND SURVEYING DEPARTMENTS.

The departments of the city can be still further
consolidated by joining under the control of the
City Engineer, the Engineering and Surveying De-
partments. Both departments employ men skilled
in the same profession, and there seems to be
no necessity for maintaining two separate and dis-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 23

tinct organizations. I believe this consolidation
should be made in the interest of economy, and I
recommend it for your consideration.

CITY ARCHITECT DEPARTMENT.

I recommend that the Architect Department be
abolished. The city of Boston, unlike some of the
other great cities of the country, has no "board of
public works," upon whom falls the responsibility for
the construction of all its buildings. On the con-
trary, its ailairs are managed by departments. Each
department should transact all its business, and if
appropriations are made for new buildings for any
department, that department should employ an archi-
tect to draw the necessary plans and supervise the
work, and should be responsible for the result.

I believe that competition among architects would
result in the city's obtaining the services of the
best men in this profession, that the style and char-
acter of our public buildings would be improved, and
that on the whole the work would be performed
more expeditiously and .at less expense.

I wish it distinctly understood that in making
this recommendation I do not reflect on the present
City Architect, nor on any of his predecessors in
the office. In fact, I think the present incumbent
of the office agrees with the recommendation. The

24 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

salary paid the City Architect, $3,500, is not, in
my judgment, sufficient to command what should
be the exclusive services of the best talent, while
the buildings erected by the city are among the
most expensive and noticeable. That we have in
the past secured temporarily men of high standing
in the profession is no guaranty that we shall be
so fortunate in the future.

The frequent changes in the office have often
made it necessary for an incoming architect to com-
plete the unfinished work of his predecessor in office,
and where faults in construction and excessive cost
have resulted it has been difficult to place the
responsibility.

COMMISSIONS.

I believe that those departments now under the
charge of three-headed commissions can be better
and more economically managed by one man. In
every commission of three persons there is danger
that some one mind stronger than the others will
govern, and yet the responsibility is so divided that
it is impossible to hold one of the three responsible
for the acts of the whole number. This sentiment
was expressed in my letter of acceptance, and I
have seen no reason to change my mind. I there-
fore recommend that the Board of Fire Commis-
sioners, the Board of Commissioners of Public

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 25

Institutions, and the Boston Water Board be abol-
ished, and that these departments be intrusted to
single, responsible heads, with salaries sufficient to
command the services of the best men.

Many of these changes will require action by the
Legislature, while some can be effected by ordinance.
I shall shortly transmit to the City Council ordi-
nances to effect the results which can be effected by
ordinances, if, on consultation with the Law De-
partment, we shall find that to be the better course.
I shall present to the Legislature such bills as, on
consultation with that department, we shall deem
best.

RAPID TRANSIT.

The importance of the rapid-transit problem be-
comes more and more apparent, and the demand for
its solution more imperative each year. Yet there is
danger that this pressure may be too importunate.
It is better that the right result should be attained
within a reasonable time, than that there should be
undue haste and costly mistakes. A study of the
work and plans of the Boston Transit Commission
convinces me that the confidence of the State and
city in the ability and judgment of its members
has not been misplaced. They are to be com-
mended for the care and deliberation with which
they have acted. Their decision not to begin actual

26 MAYOR'S ADDRESS*

constructive work until they have carefully considered
the many details of this problem and determined the
cost and probable advantages of the subway which
they are authorized to buUd^ gives additional strength
to their conclusions. The citizens of Boston will
receive with great satisfaction the statement of the
Transit Commission now for the first time made
public, that the revised estimates of their engineers
show that the building of the subway, according to
their present plans, will not seriously disturb traffic,
and that the contemplated subways from the junction
of Shawmut avenue and Tremont street, and from
the vicinity of Park square to Causeway street, can
be built within the limit of the appropriation
specified in the act of the Legislature.

CHARLESTOWN BRIDGE.

One of the pressing needs of Charlestown ought
soon to be satisfied. The broad and substantial
bridge which is to be built over the Charles
river, under the direction of the Transit Com-
mission, and for which appropriations have now
been made, will add materially to the speed and
convenience of travel between Charlestown and the
city proper. The plan now practically settled upon
by the commission contemplates building this bridge
sufficiently high to pass over the Fitchburg Rail-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 27

road tracks on the Charlestown side, and to allow
the free passage underneath the bridge of barges
and other mastless craft. It will be a distinct
public gain to thus enable all the street cars, light
vehicles, and' eighty thousand people daily crossing
the river at this poiut to avoid this dangerous
grade crossing.

DIVISION OF WARDS.

One of the most important duties to be performed
by the City Council during the present year is
the new division of the city into wards. The
law requires that the boundaries of the wards shall
be so arranged that the wards shall contain, as
nearly as can be ascertaiaed, and as nearly as
may be consistent with well-defined limits to each
ward, equal numbers of legal voters. I believe
that this important and necessary work will be
approached with a spirit of fairness and a desire
to do that which will be for the best interests of
all our citizens, and without thought of gaining
party advantages by the changes. This duty must
be completed before May 1, and as the subject
will require much study and thought, the work
should be commenced at once.

The appended table may prove serviceable to the
committee having the matter in charge.

28 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

The questions which we must meet and pass upon
during the year are not political but business ques-
tions. Let us approach them in a spirit of fairness
and with a desire to do only that which will be of
the greatest advantage to the city we love so well.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

REGISTERED VOTERS — CITY ELECTION.

1
2
3
4

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

Wabds.

10 . . .

11 . . .

12 . . .
18 . . .

14 . . .

15 . . .

16 . . .

Total 25
Average

1876.

2,185
1,942
2,022
1,884
2,024
2,112
1,791
1,085
1,928
1,669
2,152
1,894
1,861
2,278
1,757
1,684
2,111
2,259
1,962
2,110
2,098
1,208
2,828
2,596
1,282

48,662
1,946

1894.

88,898
8,556

4,845

3,195

3,049

2,816

2,740

2,092

1,660

2,169

2,285

1,541

4,862

1,818

3,244

5,254

3,545

2,441

3,062

3,081

8,928

5,648

5,611 I

4,000

5,947

7,625

8,050

Gain.

• •

1,888

2,976

1,788

807

951

822

1,961

8,588

8,518

2,792

8,624

5,029

1,818

40,688

2,210
1,253
1 ,027 !

982

716

• •

484

862

• ■ •

2,710

LOM.

20
281

128

460

Pbb Obnt.

Gain.

103
64
50
49
35

28
18

• •

126

• •

130

101

100

167

281

156

198

147

LOM.

.OOH
.12

.07

.04

MAYOR'S ADDBESS.

REGISTERED VOTERS— CITY ELECTION.

SUMMABT.

1876.

1994.

G«tB.

LOM.

Fn Cbnt,

Gain.

I-.

CSty Proper . .
Boxbury . . .
South Boston
East Boston . .
Dorchester . .
WestRoxbury .
Brighton . . .
Charlestown . .

19,280
7,378
6,896
4,077
2,696
2,828
1,232
6,980

24,906
19,182
12,043
7,640
7,626
6,947
8,060
8,606

6,676
11,804
6,147
8,468
6,029
8,624
1,818
2,676

29
160
104

86
193
166
147

48,662

88,898

40,236

Wards 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18 ... . City Proper.

" 19, 20, 21, 22 Roxbury.

^^ 18, 14, 15 South Boston.

^^ 1, 2 East Boston.

^^ 24 Dorchester.

*-^ 28 West Roxbury.

'^ 26 Brighton.

'•*' 8, 4, 6 . Charlestown.

L&.

[DOODUSMT 1 — 1896.]

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

JOSIAH QUINCY,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL,

JANUARY 6, 1896.

^^^r^

^^^ (coiniiTA.dx M

m^^ 1680. ^

BOSTON:
Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers.

1896.

CI ir: 180.

\ - - - /

O^U. J/^,^^Xtv^

CITY OF BOSTON.

In Boabd of Aldermen,

January 6, 1896.

Ordered 9 That His Honor the Mayor be requested to
furnish the Qty Council with a copy of his Inaugural
Address, for publication.

Passed. Sent down for concurrence.

In Common Council, January 6, 1896.
Concurred.
A true copy.

Attest:

John T. Priest,

Assistant Oity Cfkrk.

ADDRESS.

OerMemen of the City Council:

Assuming the office of Mayor without previous
experience in connection with the municipal gov-
ernment of Boston, and without any intimate
knowledge of the workings of the administrative
machinery of the city, I shall only undertake in
making my inaugural address to deal with some
subjects of general interest, about which I have
definite views.

Entertaining a deep appreciation of the import
tant and responsible duties devolving on the Mayor
under the present city charter, and of the honor
conferred by the citizens of Boston upon the man
whom they select to exercise this important public
trust, it will be my endeavor to perform these
duties with care and firmness. It is a high
privilege for any man to be the chief public ser-
vant of half a million people, and to have the
opportunity of public usefulness which accompanies
the powers pertaining to such service. Having,
possibly, a greater reason, even if it be sentimental,

4 MAYOR'S ADDBESS.

than any other citizen of Boston for appreciating
the honor of succeeding the long line of distin-
guished men' who have occupied the ofl&ce which I
assume to-day, I have every incentive to endeavor to
win an honorable place among them.

Our citizens have the right to expect that the ex-
tension of the term of the Mayor to two years will
result in greater independence in the exercise of his
powers. In a two-year term of office a Mayor can
make a sufficient public record to enable him, to
retire with credit, without standing for reelection,
and he may therefore fairly be expected to perform
his duties with less reference to a reelection than
has heretofore been possible.

COOPERATION WITH THE MAYOR.

It wUl be my desire to promote, by every means
within my power, the interest of the citizens at
large in their municipal government, and to invite

^ their cooperation, in every practicable maimer, in its
administration and in the consideration of municipal
problems. The numerous organizations among our
people, formed for various purposes, ought to play
an important part in the work of keeping the cit-
izen in touch with the city government, and

^ arousing him to a sense of his vital interest in
its work. It will be my purpose to welcome
the cooperation of all organizations, of whatever

HATOB'8 ADDBB88. 6

character or membership, which are prepared to
approach mmiicipal questions in a public spirit.

In some foreign countries organizations of wage-
earners take a constant, active, and intelligent in-
terest in mimicipal questions, and some of their
members occupy important positions and render "
useful services in connection with city governments.
It seems to me that similar cooperation may well .
be encouraged, to a greater extent than it has been •
in the past, in our American municipalities, and I
shall endeavor to promote this object. The wage-
earners of the community furnish a large proportion
of the scholars in our public schools, and should
take a more active interest in their management,
and I trust that the candidacy of a representative
of this large class of our citizens for the School
Committee at the recent election indicates a move-
ment in this direction.

While the views of any individual citizens or
organizations can only be given such weight as
they may be entitled to upon their merits, due
regard being given to the intelligence which they
express, I shall deem it my duty as Mayor of the
city to give as much consideration and attention
to any well-considered views or plans presented
by organizations of wage-earners as to those pre-
sented by any other body of citizens.

6 matob'8 address.

merchants' municipal committee.

In accepting the nomination for the office of
Major, I expressed the opinion that the most im-
portant and pressing questions which now concern
the citizens of Boston relate to the further develop-
ment of the city as a centre of productive industry,
— of foreign commerce, domestic trade, and local
manufacturing and mechanical production, — and that
the attempt to secure a correct understanding of
problems of such complexity and magnitude, and
to take practical municipal action to meet them,
called for the cooperation of our most broad-minded
and successful business men. I further stated my
purpose to invite the important business organiza-
tions of the city to choose a joint representative
committee, whose advice and counsel should be
available to the Mayor, and, through him, to the
City Council, the Legislature, and the public, on
business questions generally, and especially those
relating to commerce, transportation, manufactures,
and taxation.

In pursuance of the plan thus suggested, and
with the object of establishing a strong and per-
manent connecting link between the city govern-
ment and the leading business organizations of
the city, I have already addressed communications
to the Associated Board of Trade, the Boston
Chamber of Commerce, the Boston Clearing House

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

Association, the Boston Merchants' Association, the
New England Shoe and Leather Association, and
the Real Estate Exchange, inviting these bodies to
appoint delegates to a committee of seven mem-
bers, which I propose to designate as the
Merchants' Mmiicipal Committee.

I have selected these organizations after con-
sultation with representative business men, beUev-
ing that each of them is of such a character as
to entitle it to representation upon such a
committee, and that, taken in the aggregate, they
represent the organized business men of the city.
A small committee of seven members has been
fixed upon in the belief that it will prove a
more efficient working organization than a larger
body. While the Committee may report directly
upon questions of minor importance, it is con-
templated that questions of more general interest
will be submitted to the organizations represented
in its membership, so that, when any proposition
submitted has been considered by such organiza-
tions and favorably acted upon by them, it will
have the strength of the biisiness men of Boston-
behind it. I have already received sufficient infor-
mal assurances of cooperation on the part of the
officers of nearly all of the above-named organiza-
tions to make me feel confident that the Committee
will be organized, on substantially the representative

8 MATOB'S ADDBE88.

basis above outlined, at an early date. The busineas
for the consideration of this Committee will be sub-
mitted to it from time to time in official communi-
cations from the Mayor. I shall at once ask its
consideration of the subject of the proposed consti-
tutional limitation of the indebtedness of cities, and
also of the subject of securing such changes in the
tax system of the Commonwealth as are necessary
for promoting the industrial development of the city
of Boston. While it will only be within my power
to give to this Committee a semi-official standing, by
calling upon it to advise the Mayor in the exercise
of certain broad functions of his office, chiefly per-
taining to new legislation and outside of his routine
executive duties, I trust that its value as an auxil-
iary to the regular machinery of the city govern-
ment may be recognized by the City Council and by
the Legislature.

Whatever may be thought of any plan looking to
the closer union of the adjacent towns and cities
with the city of Boston for certain common purposes,
it will generally be conceded that those who have
their business interests in Boston, while residing in its
suburbs, have the same interest as our own citizens
in everything that pertains to the business develop-
ment and industrial expansion of the city, and that
in the consideration of such questions we can enlist*
their interest with profit to ourselves. As member-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 9

ship in the above-mentioned organizations is based
upon a business connection with the city of Boston,
and not upon residence within ,its limits, the Com-
mittee will act as a direct means of giving our
non-resident business men an influence in the con-
sideration of broad municipal questions.

TAXATION.

While our system of taxation is fixed by State
legislation, the city of Boston should exert its influ-
ence in every proper way to secure such amend-
ments to the tax laws as will bring them more
into harmony with the needs of a large commercial
centre, brought into daily competition with cities in
which taxation is levied ia a manner far less bur-
densome to business enterprise.

The Grovemor of the Commonwealth, in his recent
inaugural address, has recognized the evils of our
present tax system, and has forcibly pointed out its
injurious influence upon the industrial development
of the State. "Our laws," he says, "seem to bear
oppressively on om* business and industrial enter-
prises, which should be especially fostered and en-
couraged as the source from which most of our
citizens derive their livelihood." He further points
out that "experience has shown that there is no
force more potent in bringing industrial development
than wise and liberal laws of taxation." These words

10 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

have a very direct and important application to the
city of Boston, and in such application I desire to
give them my hearty endorsement. The city gov-
emment of Boston and the representatives of the
city in the Legislature can in no way more effeo-
tively promote the development of the trade and
the manufacturing and mechanical industries of Bos-
ton than by using every endeavor to secure more
liberal tax laws, and thereby enable our people to
meet the competition of their commercial and indus-
trial rivals in other States. As soon as the Mer-
chants' Municipal Committee, above referred to, is
organized, I shall invite it to take up the subject of
securing such needed changes in our tax laws, and
I trust that the influence of the Governor of the
Commonwealth, of the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives,— who, in reassuming that position, ex-
pressed views similar to those of the Governor, — of
the Mayor of the city of Boston, and of the busi-
ness organizations of the city, supplemented, as I
trust may be the case, by the City Council, may be
effectively united upon some practical and compre-
hensive plan, which will secure general support.

While I shall be ready to cooperate in any
movement which may tend to mitigate the evils
caused by our present unscientific and defective
system, I desire to express my personal convic-
tion that in order to accomplish any far-reaching

MATOB'S ADDBESS. H

benefits, false theories of taxation must be absolutely
abandoned. I believe that a large majority of the
business men of Boston are now ready to support
a movement to place upon real estate all taxes
other than those levied upon the franchises of
quasi-public corporations, and upon the estates of
deceased persons, and that the real-estate interests
would support the same policy. Taxation levied
upon real estate distributes ' itself through the
community at least as equitably as it can be dis-
tributed under any system, whUe it has the great
advantages of perfect simplicity, impossibility of
evasion, and absolute freedom for business develop-
ment.

The wage-earners, who constitute such a large
majority of our population, have every interest in
favoring a system which would result in greatly
stimulating enterprise, and enlarging the field for
the profitable employment of labor in this city.
That such a system of taxation is best adapted
to the wants of a eonnnunity ,.ch a, ou. is'oot
only supported by theoretical reasoning, but demon-
strated by the practical experience of such great
commercial and industrial cities as New York and
Philadelphia. The importance of the object is so
great, that, if the union of the necessary forces
can be effected, even the necessity of securing an
amendment to the Constitution should not be

12 MAYOR'S ADDBESS.

allowed to stand in the way of making the effort.
Such a Ynovement should be based, not upon an
effort to protect some of our citizens from double
taxation, but simply upon the broad ground that
a system of taxation laying the burden only upon
property which cannot move away will prove a
* benefit to all classes in the community, give an
absolutely free field for business expansion, and,
most of all, help those who are dependent for
their livelihood upon commercial, mechanical, and
other industrial development.

BAILROAD PROBLEMS.

The recent acquirement by the New York, New
Haven, & Hartford Railroad Company, lessee of the
Old Colony and Boston & Providence railroad
systems, of the control of the New England Rail-
road, brings up for immediate consideration the
pressing question of the readjustment of freight
and passenger terminals on the south side of the
city. The business interests of Boston, in my
opinion, would be as greatly benefited by some such
union of terminals and concentration of freight and
passenger business on the part of the four railroads
entering the city on the south -side, as by that which
has already taken place, with such beneficial results,
on the part of the railroads entering the city from
.the north side. It is of great importance, and

MAYOR'S ADDBE88. 13

entirely practicable, that the freight business of the
three above-named railroads, now under a com-
mon management, should, at an early date, be con-
centrated at a single point, easily accessible from
the business section of the city, and with ample
room for terminal facilities, not only for the present
but for the future.

The present freight yards of the New England
Bailroad Company at South Boston seem to me to
fulfil these requirements better than any other
available locality, and I believe that it would be
of great advantage to our commercial interests to
have the freight which is now always crowded,
and often delayed, at the present freight stations
of the Old Colony and Boston & Providence Rail-
roads, handled at the South Boston terminals.

Such a transfer of freight business would consider-
ably relieve the congestion of the crowded streets
through which the trucking to and from these
stations is now mainly conducted. Plans have
already been made for the track connections neces-
sary to bring about this result. But in the opinion
of the management of these railroads it is necessary,
in order to enable this concentration of freight at
the South Boston yards to be carried out, that pres-
ent grade crossings over the tracks of the New
England Railroad at South Boston should be abol-
ished, and that future grade crossings over these

14 MAYOB'S ADDRESS.

tracks should be prohibited by law. If the New
England Eailroad Company uses the Old Colony
station, or a new union station, the tracks and
terminals west of A street can be discontinued,
and there will be only two existing grade crossings
to abolish, namely, those on Congress street and on
West First street. Aside from its connection with
the freight terminals already mentioned, the aboli-
tion of the grade crossing on Congress street, and
the completion of this street, or of a new street par-
allel to it, as a thoroughfare for travel, would be
a great benefit to a large section of South Boston
by reducing its transit distance from the business
centre. If the abolition of this grade crossing will
make it possible to realize the great advantages of
securing a concentration of the freight busineas
above-mentioned at South Boston, in addition to its
other advantages above referred to, I should be
decidedly in favor of it, if the work can be done
at a reasonable expense to the city. I also believe
that the city should give its assent to such proper
legislation as might be found necessary to protect
these terminals from having streets laid out at any
future time to cross them at grade.

While a transfer of the freight business from
the Old Colony and Providence stations would afford
much needed relief to the present congestion of
passenger business at both of these terminals, a new

MATOB'S ADDRESS. ' s 15

union passenger station, for the use of at least the
Old Colony and New England Railroads, is a neces-
sity of the immediate future.

I believe that in accordance with the findmgs of'
the Rapid Transit Commission of 1891 it will ulti-
mately be found desirable to concentrate all of the
passenger traJBic upon the south side of the city in
one union station, to be located upon or near the
sites of the present Old Colony and Boston &
Albany stations on Ejieeland street. It seems to *
me worthy of serious consideration whether it will
not be advisable for the city government to take
advantage of the present new conditions of railroad
management by endeavoring to secure, if possible,
the passage of compulsory legislation to effect this
great improvement. The magnitude of the interests
involved, and the need of action upon a comprehen-
sive plan, may be appreciated from the fact that
584 trains a day now pass in or out of the four
passenger stations on the south side of the city,
carrying 80,000 people on an average, while on the
north side of the city there are only 540 trains a
day entering or leaving the Union station which has
already been provided.

Most of the grade crossings within the city limits
have already been abolished. The early abolition
of the grade crossing on Dorchester avenue over the
Old Colony Railroad tracks is very desirable, and I

16 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

shall press action on the part of the city to attain
this object as soon as possible. The management
of this railroad is desirous of carrying out this im-
portant improvement upon any plan which seems to
it to be practicable and not to involve unreasonable
expense. The plans thus far prepared have not
proved mutually satisfactory to the city and to the
railroad company, but I trust that some plan may
shortly be perfected and agreed upon which may
enable this work to be carried out by voluntary
cooperation between them. The grade crossings in
the Charlestown district are in a fair way of being
soon discontinued, and I am informed that the
railroads are working vigorously to that end in
harmony with the officials of the city. I am in
cordial sympathy with the earnest desire of the
citizens of this district that these grade crossings
be speedily removed, and I shall endeavor to ac-
complish this object as soon as possible, so far
as the action of the city government can be instru-
mental in effecting it. The question of securing
the abolition of grade crossings in the East Boston
district is more difficult, but the recent action of
the Board of Aldermen in petitioning therefor has
led to an energetic attempt to solve the problem,
and if the citizens of this district can agree upon a
proper plan I shall be glad to give it my active
support. The remaining grade crossings on the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 17

lines of the Old Colony and the New England Rail-
roads should be discontinued as rapidly as financial
considerations will permit, and the recent union of
management between the New England and the
New York, New Haven, & Hartford Railroads should
facilitate the accomplishment of this desirable
result.

ELECTION OF ALDERMEN.

The problem of devising a better system for
the election of aldermen, and securing its adoption
by the Legislature, is one which should receive
our earnest attention. Within recent years we
have tried successively election by districts, election
at large by plurality vote, and the present system
of election at large by restricted vote, insuring
minority representation. I believe that in the
general opinion of our citizens, and certainly in
my own, the present system is decidedly the worst
of the three, owing to the fact that it makes a
nomination by either of the two leading political
parties absolutely insure an election so far as five
out of the seven candidates whom it has been
customary to nominate are concerned.

If the minority representation feature of the
present law is to be maintained, I think that
some advantage at least would be gained by
requiring any political party which placed a ticket

18 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

in the field to nominate a full ticket of twelve
candidates. I doubt, however, whether the pres-
ent system would produce results satisfactory to
the citizens generally, or to the members of either
of the leading political parties, even with this
amendment. I believe that we should either re-
turn to the system of election at large by simple
plurality vote, thus securing at least the benefits
of undivided party responsibility, or else make at
least a trial of some system of proportional
representation. While much can be said for the
latter system from the standpoint of political
theory, I think it decidedly questionable whether it
would work satisfactorily in practice, and whether
it would not result in establishing the representation
of classes, and in substituting for a somewhat coher-
ent majority, — upon which some responsibility for
the enactment of necessary municipal legislation can
be placed, — a number of small groups or indi-
viduals, representing so many constituencies, of such
a varying character, that it would be extremely
difiicult to secure harmony of action or proper re-
sponsibility for legislation. Proportional representation
might also open the door for even more log-rolling
and trading than takes place under the present sys-
tem, and increase the friction between the executive
and legislative branches of the city government.
But whether it is better to return to the simple

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 19

plurality system, or to try the experiment of
proportional representation, it seems to me that it
would be advisable to elect the members of the
board for a term of at least two years, half of
their number going out of office each year. We
should thus reduce the excessive number of candi-
dates, which now tends to the confusion of the
voter and prevents due weight from being given
to the qualifications of individual candidates.

FINAKCES.

The total appropriations for the current expenses
of the city for the fiscal year ending January 31,
1896, amounted to $14,013,043. The actual current
expenditures of the city to January 1, 1896, plus
the additional expenditures through. January 31,
1896, as estimated by the City Auditor, amount
to the sum of $14,326,544, making an estimated
excess of expenditures over appropriations for the
year 1895-96 of $313,501; this amount the City
Auditor estimates will be provided by the surplus
income of the city in excess of the estimates of
general revenue upon which the annual appropriation
order for the current fiscal year was based. The
total department estimates for current expenditures
for the fiscal year beginning February 1, 1896, as
received by the City Auditor, amount to the sum
of $15,449,260, or an excess of $1,436,217 over

MAYOR'S ADDBE88.

the appropriations for the current fiscal year, and
an excess of $1,122,716 over the actual and
estimated current expenditures for this year. Among
these estimated increases over the expenditures of
the present fiscal year are the following :

Police

$261,196

Lamps

206,648

Schools

156,472

Elections

116,356

Hospital

81,725

Institutions ....

25,500

Or a total of . . .

1847,897

in these six departments alone.

I have not included in these estimates the sum of
$440,000 requested by the School Committee for the
purpose of providing proper sanitary and ventilating
appliances, fire-escapes, etc., in existing school-houses,
as I believe that this sum, or such portion of it as
may be foimd to be necessary, may properly be pro-
vided by loan.

To meet these demands for increased appropria-
tions, the increase in the resources of the city from
the proceeds of the $9 tax, as limited by law,
amounts, according to the figures of the City Auditor,
to only $232,000. According to the estimates of
the general revenue of the city made up by the City

MAYOR'S ADDBESS. 21

Auditor, it seems probable that this will not exceed
the general revenue for the current fiscal year, while
it may fall below it. The problem which will there-
fore confront the city government in making the
appropriations for the fiscal year 1896-97 will be that
of reducing the above-mentioned additional demands
upon the city treasury for $1,122,716, to the simi
of about $232,000.

It must be borne in mind that even then no pro-
vision is made for any excess of expenditures over
appropriations, while such excess will amount during
the present fiscal year, as above stated, to $313,501,
and past experience shows that it is extremely diffi-
cult, if not impossible, to avoid some excess of
expenditures over appropriations. In fact, there is
some reason to believe that even the above state-
ment represents the financial position of the city in
too favorable a light. It is obvious from this brief
and general statement that there must be rigid econ-
omy in the current expenditures of the city, and
that the Mayor and the City Council, in making up
the annual appropriation order, will have an unusu-
ally difficult task before them.

While I shall not imdertake at the present time
to anticipate the specific recommendations with regard
to appropriations for the coming fiscal year which I
shall later transmit to the City Council, I think it
proper at the present time to call your attention to

22 MATOB'S ADDRESS.

one question in connection with the largest increase
requested by any department, namely, that for the
Board of Police, which it seems to me should re-
ceive the early and earnest consideration of the City
Council.

It will be noticed that the increased appropriation
requested for this department, amounting to $261,196,
considerably more than exhausts the total estimated
increase in the net income of the city avaOable for
current expenditures for the coming fiscal year, and
represents an increase of 18 per cent, over the
appropriations for this department for the current
fiscal year. While it is true that a comparatively
small part of this increase is attributable to the
transfer of the park police to this department, it
represents, in my opinion, an unwarrantable addition
to the expenses of a single department in one year,
when considered from the standpoint of the general
financial position of the city.

In dealing with the estimate of the Police Depart-
ment, the City Coimcil may find itself seriously em-
barrassed by the provision of chapter 323 of the Acts
of 1895, which gives this board the unique power of
issuing its requisitions upon the city treasury, with-
out reference to the appropriations made by the City
Council. While I desire to avoid raising an issue at
the present time, over the question of the justice or
advisability of the system of State control of the

MATOB'S ADDBESS. 23

Police Department which has been established for this
city, but on the contrary am disposed to recognize
the existence of that system as an accepted fact
which under present conditions there is no possi-
bility of changing, it seems to me necessary that
the city government of Boston should ask the Legis-
lature to restrict in some manner the above-men-
tioned authority of the Board of Police, and at least
to limit to some reasonable percentage, corresponding
with the growth of the financial resources of the
city, the right of this board to increase from year
to year its requisitions upon the city treasury.

While I shall try to come to some understanding
with this board in regard to the increase requested
by them, and to induce them to recognize the fact
that the state of the finances of the city prohibits
such a large increase in any one department, it
must nevertheless be recognized that, by adhering
to its estimate, this board has the power under
the present law to cause great embarrassment to
the city treasury during the coming year, and to
render impossible urgently demanded increases of
expenditure in other departments of the city gov-
ernment.

The existence of authority of this character is en-
tirely inconsistent with the idea of placing upon the
Mayor, as intended by the city charter, the entire
responsibility for regulating the general finances of

24 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

the city, and keeping its expenditures within the
limit prescribed by the State laws, without injurious
curtailment of the work of any department. I
recommend that the City Council petition the Legis-
lature for such a reasonable amendment of the
above-mentioned provision of law as, while not in-
consistent with the general purposes of the act
establishing the Board of Police, will serve to
afford proper and necessary protection to the city
treasury.

In this connection I think it proper to call at-
tention to the fact that $140,000 of the estimated
increase in the Lamp Department, and $100,000 of
the estimated increase in the Elections Department,
are called for in compliance with laws passed by
the last Legislature, requiring respectively the insu-
lation of poles upon which electric-light wires are
carried, and a new registration of the voters of the
city. It seems to me somewhat of a hardship that
the city government should be embarrassed in its
efforts to live within the tax limit by legislation, of
at least doubtful necessity, which places upon it
such a considerable additional burden without pro-
viding any additional resources out of which it may
be met.

According to the statement of the Sinking-Funds
Commissioners, the estimated amoimt which the city
will be able to borrow during the present municipal

MAYOB'S ADDRESS. 25

year within the debt limit is $1,968,245. This sum
is in addition to the sxun of 1 500,000, which the
School Committee was authorized, by chapter 408 of
the Acts of 1895, to borrow during the present year
within the debt limit, which is classed in the City
Auditor's statement as a loan authorized but not
negotiated. This sum should, in my opinion, be
ample to provide for all the additional loans, not
already authorized by law, which it is necessary or
desirable that the city should incur during the
coming year, unless possibly for some new under-
taking which is expected to be self-supporting, or
for the purpose of completing some work to which
the city is already committed and which has been
insufficiently provided for by loans outside the debt
limit.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

One of the most important duties of the city ad-
ministration is to secure the proper management of
the numerous and important public institutions
under its charge. Such management should be pro-
gressive, humane, and scientific, and, at the same
time, as economical as possible, in view of the
heavy financial burden which the support of these
institutions imposes on the community. Fortunately
experience proves that true economy is consistent
with scientific humanity. It should constantly be
kept in mind that the main object of every public

26 MATOB'S ADDBKSS.

institution, whether charitable or penal, should be
the improvement of its inmates, morally, mentally,
and physically, in order that as large a proportion
of them as possible may be returned to the com-
munity at large better fitted to meet the conditions
of life. Even in penal institutions the idea that
reformation and not punishment is the object should
be constantly borne in mind.

The public institutions of the city naturally divide
themselves into two great classes, — penal and char-
itable. Charitable institutions are further subdivided
into almshouses and lunatic hospitals. Institutions
for children may also be regarded as a class by
themselves. The one most important principle per-
taining to the management of public institutions,
now generally accepted, is the scientific classification
of inmates. The ideal would be to deal with each
individual inmate, adapting the treatment to the
needs of his particular case. While this ideal is not
at present possible of attainment, it can at least be
approached by such classification as will group to-
gether, in sufficiently small bodies, those who
require about the same methods of treatment.

After giving considerable thought to the subject,
and getting the views of many persons who have
given close study to the subject for years, I believe
that this principle can best be applied to the public
institutions of the city by separating the lunatic

MATOB'S ADDRESS. 27

hospitals and the ahnshooises, — and possibly, also, the
institutions for children not of a reformatory chaiv
acter, — from the penal and reformatory institutions,
and placing the former under two, or three, sepa-
rate boards of unpaid trustees, thus adopting a
system which has been found to secure the best
results in the public institutions of the State. I
would not advocate, however, removing the penal
institutions from the control of the single Commis-
sioner of Public Institutions. While I do not desire
to pass any judgment upon the administration of
the present Commissioner of Public Institutions with-
out larger knowledge of his work, to depreciate
any improvement which niay have been effected in
these institutions, or to discourage any efforts to
secure additional improvement under the present
administrative machinery, I shall still deem it
my duty to cooperate in any well-considered plan
to secure legislation for effecting the above-men-
tioned separation of institutions into two or more
classes.

The pressing necessity for the construction of a
new building for the House of Correction of Suffolk
county is generally admitted, and I shall join in
an endeavor to secure the necessary legislation for
this purpose. I am heartily in sympathy with the
idea that in connection with the erection of a
new building, the House of Correction should be

28 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

given largely the character of a reformatory, rather
than that of a purely correctional institution, and
any future legislation should embody this view.

BUILDING OPERATIONS.

The subject of the building operations of the city
is one which calls for immediate action by the
Mayor. Under the provisions of the act of last
year revising the city charter, the office of City
Architect was abolished, and now when a new build-
ing is to be erected the head of that department
of the city government for whose use it is in-
tended selects the architect, and has charge of the
construction; the selection of the architect and the
adoption of plans is, however, made subject to
the approval of the Mayor. Understanding that it
was the intention of the Legislature to make this
required approval not merely a formal administra-
tive act, but an effective check upon the building
operations of the city, and to place upon the Mayor
the final responsibility of seeing that municipal
architecture and construction is of a proper char-
acter and intrusted to proper hands, I shall en-
deavor to use this power for the accomplishment
of these objects. A proper performance of the duty
of approving plans requires the Mayor to have at
his command expert professional advice, and it
seems to me that this can best be provided by

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 29

engaging the services of some architect of recog-
nized qualification, to be the regular professional
adviser of the Mayor in all matters pertaining to
building operations, and to be paid out of the con-
tingent firnd of the Mayor's office, or out of the
appropriations for the various buildings. I shall
accordinirly desimate such a consulting; architect as
soon aa^ible

After an architect has been selected, and plans
have been prepared, the responsibility for the mak-
ing of the building contract and for the actual
erection of the building rests, under the act above
mentioned and other laws, upon the head of the
department for the use of which the building is
intended ; and this means, imder our charter, that the
final responsibility rests upon the Mayor. The act
further provides (in section 22 of chapter 449 of
the Acts of 1895) that "any building not for the
use of any department shall be built by such of
the heads of departments or other officers appointed
by the Mayor as the Mayor shall from time to
time determine."

I am advised by the Corporation Counsel that the
School Committee is not a " department " within
the meaning of this provision, and that the actual
building of new school-houses, including the making
of the contracts therefor, therefore comes, not under
the School Committee, but under such head of a

30 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

department or other officer appointed by the Mayor
as he may designate for the purpose. According
to this construction, the specific provisions of chapter
408 of the *Acts of 1885, giving the School Commit-
tee full charge of the building operations relating to
schools, are modified by the provision of the subse-
quent act revising the city charter above referred
to. I shall deem it my duty to exercise this power,
and to designate a suitable officer to make future
contracts for school buildings, as well as to see
that the contracts already made for the school
buildings now being erected are properly carried out.

SCHOOL SAiaTATrOK.

*
The subject of proper sanitary and ventilating

arrangements in our pubUc schools is one of great
interest to large numbers of our citizens and of
pressing public importance. While it seems to me
unlikely that such a large sum as $440,000, re-
quested by the School Committee for the purpose, is
required at the present time to make proper pro-
visions of this character in our present school build-
ings, and to conform to the requirements of State
legislation, I believe that whatever expenditure may
be found necessary for this purpose should be
promptly provided for by means of a loan, — a part
of which, it seems to me, may well be taken out
of the $500,000 allowed to the School Committee,

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 31

within the debt limit, for the erection of new school-
houses during the present year, by securing such an
amendment of chapter 408 of the Acts of 1895
as may be necessary for that purpose.

Whatever may be the necessity for the erection
of new school-houses, I believe that the proper sani-
tary and ventilatiQg arrangements in school-houses,
now attended by such large numbers of pupUs, is a
matter of yet greater necessity, and should be first
provided for. As this matter may involve such a
large expense, it seems to me that the money therefor
should not be appropriated merely upon the request
of the School Committee, but that an independent
enquiry should be made by the city government,
through persons having technical knowledge and
professional experience. I, therefore, propose to
cause an immediate and thorough examination to be
made by experts into the present condition of the
school-houses, and a report to be made by them
thereon, and upon the proper methods of ventilation
and sanitation, with the probable cost of their
adoption. Such an investigation seems to be a
necessity in order to enable those responsible for
the general finances of the city to act intelligently
upon the matter. When such a report has been
made, I shall, as before stated, cooperate in every
way in my power with the School Committee in an
endeavor to secure the speedy appropriation of the

32 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

necessary money, and its application in a manner
which will prove effectual in supplying the present
deficiencies.

THE SUBWAY.

The work of the Boston Transit Commission is
progressing satisfactorily and as rapidly as practi-
cable. Whatever differences of opinion may exist
among our citizens as to the superiority of the
subway plan over others that have been proposed at
various times, as a means of relieving the congestion
of travel in the down-town district of the city, or
as to the justification for the large expenditure
which the subway calls for, I believe that under
the direction of the present members of the Transit
Commission this work is being planned with great
care and intelligence, and that there is every reason
to expect that whatever advantages it is possible to
secure under this plan will be fully attained. It is
gratifying to learn that the commission expects to
have a portion of the subway now under construc-
tion in use as far as Park street by next fall.

There is every reason to believe that it will be
possible for the Transit Commission, under the
authority granted to it, to make such a contract for
the use of the subway as will prevent the interest
and sinking-fund requirements of the loans incurred
for its construction from being any burden upon the
general finances of the city.

MATOB'S ADDBBSS. 33

I trust that this question will be treated by
the commission in a comprehensive manner^ with
a recognition of the fact that a contract with
the West End Street Railway Company, giving
it a fixed right to the use of the subway for
a term of years, has an important practical bear-
ing upon its rights in the streets. I am in
hearty sympathy with the recommendation of the
Governor in his recent inaugural, that cities and
towns should be given authority to make con-
tracts with street railway companies for the use
of their streets; and I believe that the contract
between the Transit Commission and this company
for the use of the subway should either be of
such a comprehensive nature that it will be
acceptable to the city government, as establishing
the basis of general contract relations between
the city and this company, or else should be
entered into contemporaneously with, and as a
part of, a comprehensive contract between the
city and this company, covering all of its loca-
tions and other rights.

The work of the Transit Commission in entering
upon the construction of a new bridge to Charles-
town has been unavoidably delayed through a
variety of causes. It was found necessary to
abandon the idea of a drawless bridge. After the
passage of the law authorizing the widening of

34 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Charlestown street, near the close of the last
legislative session, and in harmony with such law,
the Transit Commission fixed the location for the
new bridge, on the 30th of July last, just westerly
of the present Charles-river bridge, so that Charles-
town street, when widened, will be a direct
approach to the bridge. After the preparation of
the necessary plans, the license of the Harbor and
W ConuliLr, U> build the bridge ™ ^^
at the end of the month of November, and the
necessary approval of the Secretary of War was
granted a month later. All necessary legal
authority having now been obtained, the work of
constructing this important improvement is in a
position to be proceeded with as fast as possible.

THE STRANDWAY.

The city has already incurred an expense of
over $350,000 for the purchase of land for the
projected Strandway from the Marine park, South
Boston, to Dorchester bay. The delay on the
part of the city in beginning the construction of
this important improvement has afforded, in my
opinion, reasonable ground for disappointment and
dissatisfaction on the part of the people of South
Boston generally, and particularly of those who
own land adjacent to the proposed Strandway,
which cannot be developed or properly utilized

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 35

while the shore land taken by the Park Commis-
sion is allowed to remain in its original condi-
tion.

The last city government provided a loan of
$100,000 inside the debt limit for beginning work
upon the Strandway. The Park Commissioners
propose to begin construction at a point adjacent
to the promenade pier and to continue it along
the shore in a westerly direction from this point.
I am informed by the Park Commissioners that
an additional sum of $200,000 will complete the
Strandway (except the final surface finishing, which
cannot be done until the land has been allowed
to settle for at least a year) as far as I street,
thus affording nearly a mile of completed beach
front. The Commissioners state that this sum is
all which they can profitably expend during the
coming year, and as this will go so far toward
completing the Strandway as a local improvement,
leaving only the important matter of connecting
it with Dorchester to be subsequently provided
for, I believe that the provision of this sum out
of loans within the debt limit is all that is
necessary for the present year, and I shall recom-
mend such an appropriation.

Anticipating the completion of this connection,
it seems to me that some legislation should be
secured which will provide for the filling of the

36 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

flats which will be left inside of the line of
the projected parkway from the point where it
leaves the South Boston shore line to the point where
it joins the Dorchester shore. The expense of con-
structing this parkway would be greatly diminished
if the filling could be done in conjimction with the
owners of these flats.

PUBLIC BATHS.

The maintaining of public baths, open all the
year, seems to me to be a project for encouraging
social and sanitary improvement by municipal action
which promises large returns for a comparatively
small expenditure, and I am of opinion that the
experiment of establishing such a public bath in a
suitable locality should be tried. I shall recom-
mend such an appropriation, to be provided for
by loan.

BOARD OF ELECTIONS.

The establishment of a Board of Elections, and
the vesting iu this board of all of the powers
and duties relating to caucuses and elections
formerly divided among the City Clerk, the Regis-
trars of Voters, the Superintendent of Public
Buildings, the Ballot Law Commission, and the
Board of Aldermen, has resulted in greater sim-
plicity of machinery, and more responsible and
effective administration. It is the opinion of the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.. 37

present members of the board that, upon a fair
comparison of expenses, the present system will
also show greater economy.

In this connection I desire to suggest that, as
the regulation of caucuses by law has already been
carried so far in this city, it is worthy of serious
consideration whether the policy should not be
further extended to its logical end: this would
place party caucuses, both as to the appointment
and payment of their officers, and as to the laws
regulating the holding of caucuses, upon the same
footing as elections. A considerable expense is now
involved in the partial regulation of caucuses now
in operation, and there seems to be much force in
the argument that it would be wise to incur the
additional expense necessary to make the regulation
complete and effectual.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENT.

The considerable changes which have been effected
during the last five years, by the action both
of the State Legislature and of the City Council, in
the organization, and in the powers and duties, of
the executive branch of the city government, seem
to me to make the duty of securing the most
effective possible administration of more present
importance than that of securing further organic
changes. Progress toward the best possible munic-

88 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

ipal government cannot always be best promoted
by further changes in the scheme of administra.
tion. There is a limit to organic improvements.
The city charter of Boston in its present form
probably corresponds more nearly to the adminis-
trative principles generally accepted by those who
have given the most careful thought and study to
the problem of American municipal government than
the charter of any other large city in the country.
While there must always be a broad field for
minor improvements in municipal machinery, the
main principles which have been worked out and
practically applied to the executive government of
this city during the past ten years are generally
recognized as sound and correct. The most un-
portant work of the unmediate future is, therefore,
that of securing efficient, honest, and economical
administration under the existing provisions of the
laws and ordinances, which at least make the
attainment of this object more possible than it has
been in the past. In the performance of this
important duty, it will be my purpose not only to
maintain, but to advance, the existing standard of
capacity and efficiency among the officials and
employes of the executive branch of the govern-
ment. The citizens of Boston are entitled to a
full and adequate return for the salaries and wages
— more liberal, in many instances, than those given

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 89

by private employers for similar services — paid to
their mmiicipal servants, and I shall try to see
that such return is received.

While experience does not yet warrant the belief
that it is possible in American municipal govern-
ments to obtain as large a return for money
expended as is secured by private individuals and
corporations, it will nevertheless be my constant
endeavor to make such return as large as possible.
So far as the purchase of supplies is concerned,
the city ought to realize as favorable results as
private corporations making purchases of the same
magnitude and character.

In making appointments to office, I shall make
every effort to secure higher qualifications for the
service of the city.

Oentlemen of the City CowncU: I trust that our
official relations during the coming year may be
pleasant and satisfactory. In the discharge of the
important duties intrusted to us by our fellow-citi-
zens, may we be strengthened and supported by a
constant sense of the Divine guidance.

r,^

ADDRiESS

JOSIAH QUINCY,

MAYOR OF BOSTON,

THE CITY COUNCIL

JANUARY 4, 1897.

'>a«E:

BOSTON:

KocKWEij. AND Churchill, City Printers.

1S97.

OCI 13 183L

'J y

'-^ .

CITY OF BOSTON.

In Board of Aldermen,

elanuary 4, 1897.

Ordered^ That His Honor the Mayor be requested to
furnish for publication a copy of the address delivered
by him this day before the City Council.
Passed. Sent down for concurrence.

Perue a. Dyar,

Ghairman,

In Common Council, January 7, 1897.

Concurred.

A true copy.

Attest :

Joseph A. Conry,

President.

J. M. Galvin,

City Clerk.

OONTEI^TS.

Financial Statements

Pass
5

Public Baths

Playgrounds

Southern Union Station

South Boston Freight Terminals
The Strandway

23
24

Grade Crossings . . . .

Merchants' Municipal Committee

Taxation

Reorganization of City Council .

A Statistical Department

Election Department . '* .

■

New Register of Voters ) .

Regulation of Caucuses ' .

Public Institutions . / .

City Hospital ....

Schools

Printing Department

Electrical Construction

Wire Department .

Building 'Department

•

Building Operations

Park Department

Street Department .

Paving Division

Sewer Division . . .

Sanitary Division . . .

Street-Cleaning Division • .

Bridge Division . . • •

Ferries . . . . ' .

4 CONvTENTS.

•

Pagk

Street Watering 84

Franchises in Streets

•

Street Changes

■

Street Laying-Out Department

Charlestown Bridge

•

Cambridge Bridges .

Water Department

•

Fire Department

•

• ■

Harbor Improvement

•

Harbor Defences

Financial Policies .

•

100

West End Street Railway

•

. 105

Mount Hope Cemetery .

■

105

Public Lavatories .

■

106

A Municipal Laboratory

•

107

Unsanitary Tenements .

» 1

108

Randidge Bequest ....

■

109

Franklin Fund ....

•

110

New Statues

■

110

Copley Square

•

111

Rifle Range

•

112

Free Public Concerts

•

113

Islands in Harbor ....

•

113

Care of Trees

•

■

114

Publication of Advertisements .

•

114

Faneuil Hall

•

115

Ward-Rooms

•

115

State Lecjislatiox ....

•

116

Executive Organization

•

117

ADDRESS.

4
i

Oentlemen of the City Council:

Notwithstanding the fact that, for the first time
in the history of Boston, there is no inauguration
of a mayor at the beginning of the municipal
year, the usual executive address is doubtless
expected. I can undertake to cover but a small
portion of the extensive field of our municipal
work, and that only in the most general man-
ner. It has, however, seemed to me proper that,
in the middle of a two-year term of office, I
should refer, at somewhat greater length than has
iDeen customary, to some of the executive and
legislative work of the last year, indicate some
of the progress made, and present for your con-
sideration various ideas and suggestions looking
to future action.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

The debt statement is as follows:

Gross debt December 31, 1895 . $64,513,380 77
Gross debt December 31, 1896 . 69,480,840 48

Increase during the year . . . $4,967,459 71

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Net debt December 31, 1895 . $39,465,039 55
Net debt December 31, 189G . 43,727,721 47

Increase during the year . . $4,262,681 92

Increase in sinking funds and other

redemption funds during the year, $704,777 79

Total amount of debt issued during

1896, both inside and outside of

debt limit ..... $7,321,000 00
Funded debt paid during the year, 2,353,540 29

Increase in gross debt, as above . $4,967,459 71

Loans inside the debt limit issued

during the year 1896 . . $3,096,000
Of this amount loans

authorized in 1896

represented . . $753,500
Loans authorized prior

to 1896 . . . 1,842,500
Loans inside of debt

limit for constiuc-

tion of new school-
houses, under chap.

408 of 1895 . . 500,000

$3,096,000

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 7

The loans outside the debt limit issued during
1896 were the following:

Subway and other rapid-transit pur-
poses $2,250,000

Blue Hill, Columbus, Huntington,

and Commonwealth avenues . 1,000,000

Layijig out and construction of asses-
sable streets ..... 850,000

Improvement of Stony brook . . 100,000

Improved ferry facilities . . . 25,000

Total $4,225,000

The borrowing capacity of the city within the
debt limit for the municipal year 1896 was
$2,053,311. The loans authorized by the city
council during the year exhausted the whole
of this borrowing capacity except the sum of
$11,311.

The loans authorized inside the debt limit were
foi' the following purposes:

Street improvements, by wards, $25,000
for each ward, except $50,000 for
ward 23 $650,000

Ventilation and sanitation improve-
ments in school-houses . . . 300,000

Sewers 179,500

^ew general registration of voters . 100,000

MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

North End playground

Public bath-house

Commonwealth avenue, to continue
construction ....

City hospital, new buildings and fur-
nishing .....

City hospital, electric-light plant

Widening and construction of streets

Institutions department, new construc-
tion work .....

Improvements in city hall and old
court house ....

Massachusetts Historical Society build-
ing, on account of purchase

New electrical consti-uction work

Tremont street, repaving south of
Lenox street ....

West Roxbury playground .

New fire-boat ....

Fire department, salt-water pipe service,

Improvements at Mt. Hope cemetery

Balance, for miscellaneous purposes
chiefly local street improvements

Total

$100,000
65,000

50,000

45,000
40,000
39,300

35,500

27,000

25,000
25,000

25,000
20,000
16,000
15,000
10,000

274,700.
$2,042,000

The total loans outside of the debt limit author-
ized by the city council during 1896 were the
following :

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 9

Laying out and construction of

assessable streets, un^er chap.

323 of 1891 .... $500,000

Improved ferry facilities, under

chap. 435 of 1895 . . . 500,000

Improvements in Stony brook,

under chap. 530 of 1896 . . 500,000

Construction work on public

pai'ks, under chap. 453 of

3896 . . . . . . 1,000,000

Total 12,500,000

Total loans, inside and outside of
debt limit, both authorized and
issued during 1896, exclusive of
loans for subway and assessable
avenues and streets . . . $878,500

The valuation of property upon which the debt
and tax limits are based has increased $25,259,492
since last year. The borrowing capacity of the
city for the coming year, however, will only be
•about $1,800,000, or about $250,000 less than last
year.

Amount assessed under $9 tax limit

for financial year 1895-6 . . $8,123,212
Estimated general revenue . . 2,764,290

10 MAYOR'S ADDUESS.

Debt requirements .... $3,231,959
County expenses exempt from tax

limit 425,000

Total sum appropriated for the cur-
rent expenses of the year . . $14,544,461

making the tax rate on the thou-
sand |12 90

Amount which can be raised within
the $9 tax limit for the financial
year 1896-7 $8,350,547

Increase over financial year 1895-6, $227,335

Of the loans of $7,321,000 issued during the
year, three and a half and four per ceiit. bonds
amounting to $5,750,000 were sold upon the open
market; $1,507,300 four per cent, bonds were
taken by the commissioners of sinking funds, and
$63,700 four per cent, bonds were sold to
various city trust funds. The number of diflerent
loans placed upon the market during the year
was ten. The duty of placing the loans, vested
in the city treasurer, subject to the approval
of the mayor, is a most delicate and impor-
tant one, calling for constant watchfulness and
sound financial judgment. We may congratulate
ourselves upon the fact that the credit of the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 11

city remained so good during tlie disturbed
financial conditions of the last six months that
the treasurer continued to market bonds, at only
a slight decrease from former prices, during the
period when other large cities abandoned the
attempt to dispose of their securities.

I am happy to be able to state that it has recently
been found possible to reduce the interest rate upon
the twenty-year bonds of the city from four to three
and a half per cent. A three and a half per cent,
loan for the sum of $1,500,000 was sold at 101 1 in
the latter part of November. The last preceding
three and a half per cent, loan — outside of the
special rapid-transit loans foi* forty years — was
issued early in 1890. The credit of the city ot
Boston stands deservedly high, and there is no
reason, under the financial policy now pursued,^
why it should not remain so.

During the current financial year the money
paid into the city treasury for licenses for the
sale of intoxicating liquors, after deducting the
one-quarter share payable to the commonwealth,
has amounted to the sum of $1,082,991.75. The
expenses of the police department for the finan-
cial year will amount to about $1,676,000 ; so
that the receipts from licenses have met nearly
two-thirds of the total cost of this department.

12 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

PUBLIC BATHS.

The contract for the bath-house on Dover
street, the plans of which have recently been
made public, will be awarded very shortly,
and the work should be completed within the
next six months. Partly in recognition of the
interest which the representatives of the wage-
earners of the city have manifested in the project,
and of the support which they have given it, a
clause has been inserted in this contract requir-
ing that preference in employment upon the work
shall be given to the membei-s of trades unions.
I informed the city council of 1896 that I should
advocate the establishment of several other local
bath-houses of a similar character during the
present year, and I now desire to formally recom-
mend a loan of $200,000 toward erecting baths
in Charlestown, East Boston, the !N^orth End,
South Boston, and Roxbury. While this sum
may not be sufficient to provide proper baths
for all five of these districts, it would go very
far toward doing so, and they should all be
included in any general plan.

During the past year the subject has been so
thoroughly studied from every standpoint that
action upon a comprehensive scale can now be
safely taken, and if the city council acts promptly,

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 13

Boston can, within the coming year, take a place in
advance of any other American city in respect to **
public bathing facilities. I desire to express my
acknowledgments of the careful and faithful work
of the members of the advisory committee upon
this subject, appointed by me early in the year.

While the needs of the different sections of
the city in respect to shower-baths should be
first met, I believe that one or more large swim-
ming-baths, such as the town of Brookline has
recently opened, should later be added. Some
free instruction in swimming, particularly for the
benefit of the scholars in our public schools, may
well be furnished by the city. The public bath-
ing-beach at the Marine park, South Boston,
has been so largely used during the past year that
the need of a greater number of bath-houses is
already felt, and it is hoped that these can
be provided before the opening of another season.
I believe that the smallest possible charges should
be made for the use of the facilities required^ for
bathing on the open beach, in order that as
large a number of the people as possible may
enjoy this great privilege afforded by our water
front.

In many of the cities of continental Europe
baths have for some time been introduced in
school-houses for the use of the scholars, with

14 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

such excellent results that they have become an
established feature. The teaching of habits of
personal cleanliness, which is thus made possible,
should be no unimportant part of public instruc-
tion. It should be a source of satisfaction that
the school committee has decided to try this
experiment in a new school-house.

PLAYGROUND wS.

I know of no direction in which the expenditure
of a few hundred thousand dollars will do more for
this community, through the healthful development
of its children and young people, than by the
judicious provision of properly located and equipped
playgrounds. «So much public attention has been
given in this and other cities to the advantages of
extensive park areas, that the equally great need of
comparatively small open spaces, particularly in
thickly settled districts, for use as playgrounds, has
been largely overlooked. The cify and metropolitan
park systems have provided Boston and its suburbs
with one of the finest and most varied systems of
rural and urban parks to be found anywhere in the
world. But these lai'ge park areas are not de-
signed, or only to a very slight extent, to afford
opportunities for open-air games or athletic sports
or contests. If one-twentieth of the sum which
Boston has spent upon her magnificent park system

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 15

could be devoted to the acquisition in proper
localities, throughout the city, of numerous areas to
serve as playgrounds, the investment would, in my
opinion, bring in a still larger percentage of return,
in the shape of healthful physical development and
social well-being. I believe thnt every ward of
the city shoul^, as nearly as possible, be provided
with some place where children can play, and
where out-door sports and contests can, to some
extent at least, be carried on. The city of Paris
recognizes so fully the public importance of
healthful out-door recreation that directors of
sports are employed, to assist in organizing
them. Boston may well adopt the same en-
lightened policy and become the first city in
America in respect to public exercise and
athletics.

A fair beginning in this direction has already
been made during the past year. .The lot of
laud owned by the city on M street, ' South
Boston, containing about five acres, has been taken
out of the hands of the street commissioners, and
the work of levelling it off to a proper grade,
for which the sum of five thousand dollars was
secured, is already in progress. The question of
how best to equip and utilize this ground has been
considered at a public hearing in South Boston,
plans are under way, and the matter is in shape

16 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

for intelligent action. The park eomniissionei'S
have recently taken a tract of about eighteen
acres of marsh at Neponset, for which the sum
of $15,000 was appropriated last year, also a desir-
able area of about eleven acres, chiefly low
meadow land, tnown as Billings' field, in West
Roxbury, for which the sum of $20,000 was
appropriated in the last general loan order.
While these two tracts are not at the present time
in suitable condition for immediate use for play-
ground purposes, they will be secured at such
a moderate figure that even after the expense of
filling has been met they will not be expensive,
and if such filling is gradually done with city
ashes its cost will be very slight. It is very
desirable that such playgrounds should, if possible,
be laid out so as ultimately to be bounded by a
street on every side, and this has been secured
in these two cases.

The acquisition of spaces of this character in
our outlying districts is to some extent a wise
and economical anticipation of the certain wants
of the not far distant future ; but there are
other localities where the need of playground ac-
commodations is already urgently felt. In built-up
districts it is of course impossible to provide open
areas of as great size, as the cost of acquiring
land is considerable; yet these are the very districts

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 17

where it is most important to make some provisiou
of this character as soon as possible. In ward
three, Charlestown, for instance, the want of some
open space is keenly felt, and a petition repre-
senting the inconvenience and danger caused by
the playing of children in the public streets, and
asking for the purchase of a playground, has been
extensively signed by taxpayers.

Ward sixteen is another district where there is
great need of a playground, especially for use by
young men as an athletic field. In this vicinity
there is fortunately plenty of vacant low land which
can be acquired and filled for a reasonable sum,
and this should be done as soon as possible.

In thickly populated districts, small open breath-
ing-spaces for the use of little children, with
their mothers, would also be valuable. Pro-
vision has already been made for one open space
of this character by the appropriation by the last
city council of the sum of $2,000 for improving
a lot of laud on Fellows street, already owned
by the city, containing about three-quarters of
an acre. A plan for this purpose has been
carefully prepai-ed, and the work will be" com-
pleted eai'ly in the spring.

Open-air gymnasia have already been pro-
vided by the city at Charlesbank and Wood
island, and the large use made of both of these

ly MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

shows that they meet a public want. Similar
t^ymnasia, for the use of adults as well as young
people, should be located at a number of points
throughout the city, and more attention should
also be i)aid to providing gynmastic apparatus for
school children. Last year an appropriation of
$15,000 was made for an open-air gj^mnasium at
Commonwealth park, in ward thirteen, South Bos-
ton; but as the state owns this land, and no Jissur-
ance could be obtained as to the continuance of its
use by the city, it was not deemed proper to ex-
pend this sum, and it is still available. There
seems to be a sti'ong demand in this ward for a
gymnasium and playground, and the matter of find-
ing a suitable location is now imder investigation.

The appropriation of $100,000 for a playground
at the North End has not yet been expended.
Owing to the high price of land in this locality
it is difficult to secure much of an area with
this sum; but the more crowded a district is,
the greater is the necessity of at least some such
accommodation. The city of Xew York has
within the last year completed a large open
square, at an expense of over a million dollars,
in the heart of the thickly populated Mulberry
Bend district, and the improvement is now recog-
nized as having more than justified even this cost.

Unless some more ccmiprehensive financial scheme

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 19

seems feasible, I recommend a loan this year of
at least $200,000 to be devoted to the acquiring
and equipment of playgrounds. I am thoroughly
satisfied that it would be far wiser for the city
to expend the sum of $400,000 during the com-
ing year for public baths and playgrounds, than
to devote that amount of money to any other pur-
poses, of however pressing a character. The
adoption of progi'essive and distinctive municipal
policies of this nature raises the reputation and
standing of the city, and tends to bring its gov-
ernment closer to the people, and to promote a
civic spirit which will yield valuable rei^ults in
many directions.

The subject of public squares is somewhat con-
nected with that of playgrounds. At the present
time we have some seventy squares and public
grounds, large and small, with a total area of about
one hundred and forty-three acres, in charge of the
public grounds department. The question of mak-
ing these open spaces of the greatest possible
utility to the public is an interesting and important
one, and many desirable improvements, which would
add both to the convenience of the people and the
artistic appearance of the grounds, could be eifected
within a moderate cost. It would be desirable
to supply in many of them sand-pits for small
children to play in. These can be put in at a

20 MAYOR'S ADDREvSS.

small expense, and have been much appreciated
where they have been furnished.

I believe that it would be desirable for the
city to acqmre most, if not all, of the smaller
marsh areas within its limits. These are of com-
paratively small value at present, while the open
spaces thus secured would be of great public
value in the future, l^heir acquisition would pro-
tect adjacent property from depreciation, through
the undesirable uses to which such land is
now liable to be put, and would afford dump-
ing places for the future use of the sanitary
division.

SOUTHERX LXIOX STATIOX.

In my inaugural address the great desirability
of securing a union passenger station for the use
of the four railroad lines entering the city on the
south side w^as urged, and it w^as suggested that
the city should endeavor to secure the passage
of compulsory legislation, if necessary, to effect
this great improvement. A new i)lan for the
location of such a miion station was bi'ought
forward eai'ly in the year, upon whi(».h the repre-
sentatives of the vai'ious I'ailroads affected, and
of the city, were able to agree ; and by chaj)ter
516 of the acts of 1896, approved June 9,
provision was made for the construction and use

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 21

of such a station, and for cei-tain changes in the
public streets necessarily incident thereto. The
beginning of the work of construction to be done
under this act has been unavoidably delayed, both
on the part of the Terminal Company and of the
city. The extraordinary financial conditions of the
summer and autumn prevented the company from
placing its bonds as rapidly as desired, at a satis-
factory price. This diificulty has only recently
been removed, but the Terminal Company has now
acquired by purchase a large part of the neces-
sary land, and has sold $6,000,000 of its
bonds and secured authority to issue $2,000,-
000 more ; it is expected that its whole invest-
ment will amount to between eight and ten
millions. On the part of the city, application was

made to the war department, as promptly as pos-

■

sible after the passage of the act, for the necessary
permission to construct the sea-wall on Fort
Point channel. This was duly received, and the
approval of the plans by the harbor and land
commissioners is expected shortly.

This delay has not postponed the final comple-
tion of the undertaking, as the work to be done by
the Tei-minal Company has not been held back. A
large pai't of the land necessary for the widening of
Cove street has been purchased by the company,
and a taking of all land within the tei*minal lines

22 J^AYOR'S ADDRESS.

not yet acquii'ed by purchase will at once be
recorded. In three months from the date of such
taking, which time is allowed to the present
occupants of the real estate before they are
obliged to vacate, the city will be able to begin
the construction of new Cove street, and this
w^ork will be pushed to early completion.

The plans for the station, with its track connec-
tions, have received thorough and intelligent study
for many months. As finally accepted by the
Tenninal Company, approved by me, upon the
advice of the city engineer and the consulting
architect, and also, as required by the act, by the
railroad commissioners, they provide highly satis-
factory accommodations for the public. The track
arrangements seem to be planned so as to handle
conveniently and expeditiously an immense amount
of traffic, and the future separation of suburban and
through travel, which is amply provided for, is a
feature of great im[)ortance. The company has met
the reasonable recpiirements of the public in a liberal
manner, and has [)rovided foi* a long period of
iuture growth ; and the station, when completed,
can confidently be expected to prove one of the
finest and most convenient railroad terminals to
be found anvwhere in the world. Due attention
has been paid to the architectural appearance of
the building.^^and jthe structure should add to the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS; 23

beauty of the city. Boston is to be congratulated
upon securing such an important and valuable
addition to its transportation facilities.

SOUTH BOSTON FREIGHT TERMINALS.

I called attention last year to the desirability
of providing at South Boston for the freight
business of the Old Colony, Boston and Provi-
dence, and 'New England railroad lines, and to
the necessity of abolishing the present grade
crossing on Congress street for this purpose.
An act was passed by the last legislature pj'O-
viding that the commission heretofore appointed
by the superior court for the abolition of this
crossing should be given authority to lay out a
comprehensive plan for a substitute for Congress
street in South Boston. The representatives of
the commonwealth, of the city, and of' the rail-
roads concerned have all agreed upon a plan,
which has been approved by the commission. This
includes a new street from L-street bridge to
Fort Point channel, passing over the railroad
tracks by a bridge, crossing the channel by a
new bridge, substantially in the location of the
present New England railroad bridge, thence by
a new street on the westerly side of the channel
to Congress street, and by Congress street,
widened between the channel and Atlantic avenue.

24 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

to Atlantic avenue. These latter features of
the plan will be of especial benefit in diverting"
freight traffic to and from South Boston from
passing through the extension of Summer street,
in front of the new union depot. The new bridge
will be at the foot of Summer street extended, and
this street and the new street in substitution for
Congi'ess street will afford important additional
avenues of communication. The ample facilities for
the handling of freight, adjacent to the water
front, which will thus be afforded should prove
of great future commercial benefit. The commission
expects to make its decree apportioning the expense
in the near future.

THE STRAXDWAY.

In addition to the sum of $100,000 appropriated
by the city government of 1895 for work upon
the Strandway at South Boston, the further sum
of $200,000 was made available by the act passed
by the last legislature, providing for an addi-
tional $1,000,000 loan for the completion of
certain park work. Contracts to the amount
of $200,000, covering the work of rough grad-
ing as far as H street, were made during the
past year, and operations under them are being
pushed as rapidly as possible. The amount
available will complete the Strandway about

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 25

to I Street, and it will certainly prove one of the
most unique and attractive features of our park
system. A long stretch of public beach, fronting
upon a fine bay, with ample accommodations for
bathing and boating, immediately adjacent to a
district having a population of upwards of 70,000,
and within about two miles of the business centre,
will be a possession which can hardly be matched
by any other city.

In connection with the question of joining the
Straudway with Dorchesterway and the rest of
the park system, as contemplated in the original
plans of the landscape architects, I desire to present
a new scheme, which seems to me to be recom-
mended by many strong considerations. This
plan was referred by me to the Merchants*
Municipal Committee, and has received the hearty
approval of that body. The completion of this
connecting link can be combined with the aboli-
tion of the present grade crossing of the Old
Colony tracks, on Dorchester avenue, in a highly
economical and desirable manner. This abolition
is recognized as of pressing importance, but thus
far it has been found impossible to agree upbn any
plan satisfactory both to the people of South
Boston, the railroad, and the city. A plan has
now been prepared by the city engineer for re-
locating the Old Colony tracks between the

26 MAYOR'S ADDRKSS.

Crescent-avenue and South Boston stations, carry-
ing Dorchester avenue, Boston and Swett streets
over the new location, with easy grades. The
new roadbed crosses the Xew England tracks by
a bridge, and provision is also made for a con-
nection at grade for the transfer of freight
to and from the South Boston yards.

The total expense, of every character, involved
in this relocation, including purchase of land,
grading, and construction of bridges, giving
the railroad much improved • facilities, would
amount, according to the estimate of the city
engineer, to about $950,000. This sum would
not be very largely in excess of the cost of
any othei* satisfactory plan for the abolition of
the Dorchester-avenue grade crossing; and it
has advantages which make it worth much
more to all parties concerned than any abolition
of the crossing without a substantial relocation
of the tracks. By utilizing the ])resent bed of
the railroad for the purpose of joining the
end of the Strandway with Dorchesterway, a
large expense can be saved to the city, if
it is assumed that the original plan of carrying
the Strandway across a part of Dorchester bay
would otherwise have to be carried out. This plan
would therefore accomplish the four important
results of doing away with a dangerous grade

MAYOirS ADDRESS. 27

crossing, — which must be abolished in any event
at a large expense, — of removing the obstruction
which the raih'oad tracks now present to the
development and expansion of the adjacent section
of South Boston, of providing the required con-
nection between the Strandway and the rest of
the park system, and of opening an important
new avenue, by the use of the pi-esent roadbed
of the raih-oad between the Strandway and Dor-
chester avenue at B street.

The plan prepared by the city etigineer has
been pronounced satisfactory, from the standpoint
of railroad engineering, by the chief engineer
of the New York, XeW Haven, and Hartford
railroad, and it seems to me quite likely that
it will be accepted by all parties in interest,
if a fair division of the ex|)ense involved can
be agreed upon. I trust that it will be possible
to reach this i-esult in the near future, and the
advantages to be gained by the city are so great
as to warrant a liberal financial contribution on its
part. If this plan can be cariied out, T also believe
that it would be advisable for the city to accpiire all
of the shore property, mostly marsh lands, lying to
the eastward of the railroad between the Crescent-
nvenue station and the end of the Strandway.

28 MAYOR*S ADDRESS.

GRADE CROSSINGS.

The difficult question of preparing a practical
plan, within the bounds of reasonable financial
expenditure, for the abolition of the grade cross-
ings in East Boston, has been given much at-
tention and study by the city engineer. Within
the last few months the representatives of the
railroads concerned have shown a disposition to
cooperate with the city in this matter. A new
scheme, providing for depressing the railroad bed
ten feet at Saratoga street and six feet at Sumner
street, involving an estimated expenditure of
about $900,000, exclusive of the cost of lower-
ing the tracks, has recently been prepared by
the Boston and Albany railroad company. The
position taken by the railroad companies as to the
contributions which they should respectively make
to the total cost of carrying out a i)lan is a serious
obstacle in the way of arriving at any agi'cement,
while the provisions of the legislative act are so
unusual that under it the city probably cannot
bring about the abolition of the grade crossings
against the opposition of the companies.

It seems to me that by far the most satisfac-
toiy solution of the whole problemTwould be the
conversion of the Boston, Kevere Beach, and Lynn
railway into an electric line, and its relocation,

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 29

within the limits of East Boston, upon some street
west of its present roadbed, so that the latter
could be used for the tracks of the other railroad
companies. This plan might be carried out to great
advantage in connection with the proposed new
ferry, as the landing on the Boston side now used
by the Revere Beach railway would become avail-
able for use as a public ferry-landing. In this
manner additional facilities could be secured with
the least . possible increase in the movement of
ferry-boats across the harbor.

The matter of abolishing the gi-ade cross-
ings of railroads in Charlestown, of which the
most important are those at Cambridge street,
Prison Point bridge. Main street, and Rutherford
avenue, is still in the hands of the commission
appointed by the superior court. The problems
involved are difficult and complicated; and some
diversity of views between the respective repre-
sentatives of the city of Boston, the city of
Cambridge, the railroads, and the commonwealth,
as the owner of the land occupied by the state
prison, has occasioned unavoidable delay in finally
fixing upon plans. Good progress toward reach-
ing a final conclusion has, however, been made,
and a plan has now been prepared substantially
satisfactory to all parties concerhed as to the
Charlestown side, and a hearing has recently been

30 MAYOR'S ADDRBS8.

held to detemiine the construction on the Cam-
bridge side.

merchants' municipal committee.

In my inaugural address a plan was outlined for
the formation, on a representative basis, of an
advisory committee, designed to establish "a
strong and permanent connecting link between
the city government and the leading business
organizations of the city." A body designated
as the Merchants' Municipal Committee was ac-
cordingly constituted, consisting of two represent-
atives of the Associated Board of Trade, and
one I'epresentative each of the Chambei' of Com-
merce, the Clearing House Association, the Mer-
chants' Association, the Real Estate Exchange,
and the Shoe and Leather Association. I have
derived valuable assistance during the year from
frequent consultations Avith the public-spirited and
broad-minded business men who were selected as
membei's of this committee. Regular meetings have
been held every two weeks during most of the year,
and many municipal questions of large importance
have been discussed and voted upon. Recently the
members of the committee have, at my request,
taken up from a business standpoint the problem
of reorganizing 'the city council, and have given
a great deal of time and thought to this ques-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 31

tion. They have enlisted the interest and co-
operation of various organizations and individuals,
inchiding prominent members of the legislature,
and the bill which has just been made public
is the result of their efforts. The experiment
of constituting this committee has fully answered
my expectations, and I am satisfied that an
organization of this character should be continued
permanently in some manner in connection with
the city government. At my request a section has
accordingly been inserted in the bill referred to,
providing for a permanent Board of Commerce
and Finance, to act as an advisory body to the
mayor, the city council, and the general court,
representative of the organized business men of
this city and authorized to speak for them.

TAXATION.

I s[)oke last year of the interest of the city of
Boston in securing " such amendments to the tax
laws as will bring them more into harmony with
the need.s of a large commercial centre, brought
into daily competition with cities in which tax-
ation is levied in a manner far less burdensome
to business enterprise," and advocated some
changes designed to promote the commercial and
industrial development of this city. The Mer-
chants' Municipal Committee took up the matter,

32 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

at ray suggestion, and gave a large amount of
time and thought to it. A bill was framed on
the general lines referi'ed to, and its passage was
advocated before a committee of the legislature.
As a result of this agitation of the subject, the
legislature provided for the appointment of a
special commission of five persons to "collate and
report facts concerning taxation, present a sum-
mary of conclusions to be drawn therefrom, and
suggest any changes advisable in the laws of the
commonwealth relating to taxation." This com-
mission is given until the first day of October
next to make its report, and no legislative action
can therefore be expected until the session of
next year.

REORGAXIZATION OP CITY COUNCIL.

In my inaugural address I called attention to
the defects of the present system of electing
aldermen, and advocated some measure Avhich
would do awav with its manifest faults. The
experience of another year under the present
law has only strengthened the conviction, held
generally by our citizens, that something better
must be substituted for it. Public opinion now
seems to be ripe, not only for a change in the
present method of electing aldermen, but in the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 33

whole constitution of both branches of the city
council.

Observation of the workings of the present two
branches has entirely satisfied me that a single
chamber, if properl}^ constituted, would be a
great improvement over the present dual organ-
ization. I am strongly opposed to the mere
abolition of the common council, leaving all the
legislative powers of the city in the hands of a
board of aldermen consisting of a small number
of members; but marked benefits would, in my
opinion, result from the practical consolidation of
the present two branches into a single chamber,
intermediate between them in size, and combining
ward representation with representation of the city
at large.

The present city council is a survival of the
organization which existed under the charter as it
stood prior to 1885. The change then made, taking
away all power of controlling executive business
from committees of the council, has had an
important influence, fully experienced only during
the last few years, upon that body. It now
seems necessary either to move in the direction
of still further reducing the powers of the
council, including its control over appropria-
tions, as has been done in the city of New
York, or to make some change in its consti-

3i MAYOR'S ADDUESS.

tution, designed to give it more influence and
importance, if not more direct power. I be-
lieve strongly in adopting the latter course.

Even with all the executive powers vested in
the mayor, the legislative body of a great
city has important functions to perform, and it
would be a distinct loss to the body politic
to reduce it to a position of insignificance and
impotence. In the first place, the executive
should constantly be subject to close obsei'va-
tion and intelligent criticism by the legislative
branch of the government. Secondly, the only
way to avoid, or keep within any [)roper
bounds, interference with local affairs by the
state legislature, is through a local legislative
body, of such character and strength that it can
safely be trusted with the i>roper powers of local
legislation, and that its action will be given
weight as a fair expi'ession of local sentiment.
Thirdly, the council has important duties to
perform in making the wisest possible applica-
tion of the financial resources of the city, and
in initiating and formulating new and progressive
municipal policies. In this city we should at
least, in my opinion, give a full and fair trial
to a city council constituted in a different
manner from the ])resent body, and having only
a single chamber, befoie deciding to take any

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 35

further steps in the way of diminishing its
powers.

The work of formulating a reorganization bill
has been entered into with a desire to com-
promise differences of opinion, and secure a
union of forces upon some good measure. The
bill now drafted contains ideas and provisions
suggested from many different sources. Without
necessarily approving all of its features, I
shall give my earnest support to any practical
measure, generally agreed upon by the persons
actively interested in this movement, which
embodies the general principles which seem to
me essential to secure the improvement of
existing political conditions.

The provision contained in this bill for
the election, on the years when no mayoralty
election is held, of a president of the city council,
seems to me an excellent one. The importance of
such an office would in many respects be second
only to the mayoralty, and the contest for it
would be sure to draw out a full vote. The
decrease in the total number of ballots cast
at the last city election indicates the need
of some greater stimulus to bring out a vote
of proper proportions. The comparative lack of
interest which characterized this election may
be partly accounted for by the fact that twelve

36 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

out of the fourteen candidates for aldermen nomi-
nated by the two leading political parties were
sure to be elected, and it may reasonably be ex-
pected that there would be more active attention
to the choice of the members of a single legis-
lative body; but a contest between two or more
candidates for a single important office arouses
the voters much more than the choice of a
large number of members of a city council can
possibly do. The election of an officer who is
given the broad powers which this bill proposes
to vest in the president of the city council will
doubtless excite the interest of the voters.

Changes in nominating methods have so length-
ened the municipal campaign that it now begins
too soon after the state election, if not actually
before it. The theory of the law is that there
should be such a separation between the two
elections that the votes may not run on exactly
the same party lines. In order to promote this
object, as well as to avoid other objections to a
practically continuous political campaign for the
two elections, I believe that the date of the city
election should be moved forward at least one
week, if not longer. This might not allow" a mayor-
elect sufficient lime, before the beginning of the
municipal year, in which to prepare a comprehen-
sive inaugural address; but the delivery of such

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 37

an address might with decided advantage be post-
poned to the beginning of the financial year, on
February first. A new mayor would then have
I the benefit of one month in oflSce before being
obliged to outline his policy, and the accounts of
the financial year w^ould be made up for his use.

In spite of the prospect of the passage of some
I'eorganization measure during the present session
of the legislature, I have thought it best to
give my approval to the act passed by the last
legislature providing for the payment to members

of the common council of a salary of $300 per
-anmun, and forbidding the payment of any money
from the city treasury "for or on account of
refreshments, carriage hire, or other personal
expenses, incurred directly or indirectly by, or in
behalf of, any member of the common council
oj' any committee thereof." The payment of these
jsalaries will cost the city some $7,500 more than
5uch expenses have recently amounted to, but
I did not think it proper, after the approval
of this act by the people, to take advantage of
the anomalous provision which gave me the power
to prevent it from going into efifect.

A STATISTICAL DKPAKTMENT.

I desire to recommend strongly the establishment
by the city of a statistical deparlment, to be under

38 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

the charge of an unpaid commission. Full infor-
mation has been secured as to the organization
and methods of work of the municipal statistical
offices which have for many years been success-
full}^ maintained by Paris, Berlin, and other lead-
ing continental cities. Xo American city, I believe,
has 3^et established such an office, and there is an
opportunity for Boston to secure the credit of
leading the way in this very important line of
work. Such a department should supplement the
work already done in the line of statistical en-
quiry by the governments of the United States
and of the commonwealth, supervise and syste-
matize such work of this character as is already
undertaken by other departments of the city gov-
ernment, such as the board of health, and also
pursue special lines of investigation of its own.
Another important feature of its work should be
the systematic collection and tabulation of com-
parative statistics of other municipalities. An
annual publication, giving an abstract in proper
form of all current statistical information relating
to the city, such as is published by some Euro-
pean cities, would also be of great utility. Finan-
cial compai'isons of the cost of work done or
service rendered in different years, or in different
cities, would be valuable in disclosing waste or
inefficiency. One member of such a commission

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 89

should be a business man skilled in financial analy-
sis, and the city engineer should be a member,
e.e officio. Such a department could be started
upon a very small annual appropriation, and I
trust that the city council will promptly cooper-
ate with me in this matter, and by the passage
of the necessary ordinance enable this important
work to be in operation b}' the beginning of tlie
next financial year.

ELECTION DEPARTMENT.

The board of elections, established last year
in accordance with legislation recommended by
my predecessor, has upon the whole worked well
and produced good results. While simplicity,
convenience, and concentration of authority and
responsibility are secured by the new system,
thei'e are certain dangers connected with this
very centralization of control of all matters per-
taining to elections. To enable the present plan
to work successfully there must be, in the first
place, general public confidence in the integrity
and ability of the commissioners, and in their
freedom from improper outside influences or
selfish political motives; there must also be, under
the bi-partisan constitution of the board, full
confidence upon the i3art of each of the
j)olitical parties in the commissioners representing

40 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

it. The office subordinates of the board must
also be men of good character, not person-
ally engaged in active political contests, either
between factions or parties. Any general feeling
that the powers of the board were improperly
used, directly or indirectly, for partisan purposes,
or that either political party was obtaining thiough
it an undue advantage over the other, would be
fatal to its permanent usefulness. The board, in
short, is a delicate piece of machinery, especially
adapted for the performance of a certain work; it
cannot be tampered with, and it should not have any
undue strain put upon it.

Anything in the nature of a central returning
board, with practically unlimited powers, would not
be supported by the public opinion of our citizens ;
but under the i)i'esent law providing for the re-
counting of ballots cast in caucuses and conven-
tions, the election commissioners are made to
occupy somewhat this position. It is impossible
to have all the ballots cast in the city of Boston
recounted in a limited time in the office of the
board without giving rise to the suspicion, — no
matter how carefully arrangements for recount-
ing may be made, and although such suspicion
may have no basis of fact to rest upon, — that in
the process of recounting, ballots may be tam-
pered with, to change the result of a close

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 41

election. "The requirements of the present law,
therefore, not only impose a very onerous duty
upon the election board, but they tend to subject
the present system to a sti^ain which should not
be imposed upon it.

Upon the othei* hand it must be admitted
that candidates for office, whether in caucuses
or at the polls, have the right to an accurate
count of the ballots; rec6unts have too often
shown that the count at the polls was not
reasonably correct, and there have in certain
instances been clear indications that the count
of caucus ballots was not even honest.

It would not seem safe to do away with
the recounting of votes cast at caucuses, at
least until they are placed as nearly as pos-
sible • under the same legal safeguards as
elections ; but it has for many years been my
belief that the recounting of ballots cast at
elections — which is, I believe, peculiar to this
commonwealth — was unnecessary and dangerous.
I desire to suggest, as a substitute for such re-
counts, that two special election officers, having
no other duty than that of counting and tabu-
lating the votes, and selected solely for their
special qualifications for this work, should be as-
signed to duty at each polling-place at the close of
the polls. Each block of ballots should be counted

42 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

independently by each of these counters, to verify^
the result of the vote, which should only be tabu-
lated when the two counts agreed. In this
manner the true results can be arrived at
fully as accurately as by recounts. Or it
might be found desirable to have all the ballots
carried by police officers, at the close of the
polls, under proper safeguards, to a large hall, to
be there counted by a force of expert counters^^
under the supervision of the election' commis-
sioners, and in the presence of the representa-
tives of different political parties and the public.
The figures thus made up should be treated as
final, and the ballots should either be destroyed
at once, or held subject to be called for by the
courts or by the legislature.

NEW REGISTER OF VOTERS.

The complete new registration of the voters of
Boston, required under the provisions of chapter
449 of the acts of 1895, was successfully ac-
complished, at an expense of about $100,000. At
the close of this extra registration there were 96,-
746 names upon the voting list, or 5,203 more than
the largest number ever before on the list, which
was at the municipal election of the year 1895.
The percentage of registered voters to assessed
])olls was sixty-two per cent., which was the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 43

same percentage as at the municipal election of 1895^
This would not seeni to indicate the existence in
this city of any such peculiar conditions as to call
for the expenditure of so large a sum of money for
the preparation of a new voting list. It can be
positively affirmed that the woi'k of registration
has for years been performed in Boston with
more care than in most of the cities of the
commonwealth. If any public interest required
the state to impose this large expenditure upon
the city of Boston, and to subject its citizens
to the trouble of a new registration, it certainly
requires that the other cities of the common-
wealth should be brought under the same pro-
vision. But the new register of voters may be
worth all that it has cost in time and money
if it establishes legislative confidence in the hon-
esty of our voting lists.

REGULATIOX OF CAUCITSES.

I said a year ago that it was worthy of seri-
ous consideration whether the established legis-
lative policy as to the regulation of caucuses
should not be carried to its logical end by
placing them, ^^ both as to the appointment and
payment of their officers and as to the laws
regulating their holding, upon the same footing
as elections.'- The experience of another year

,44 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

has, I think, satisfied nearly all fair-mindeo polit-
ical observers of the need of such further steps.
The present caucus system has demonstrated its
capacity to bring out a much larger vote than
was polled at the caucuses held under the old
methods. By a few changes, — including the ap-
pointment of caucus officers in the same manner
as election officers and payment for their ser-
vices, the opening of the polls as early as twelve
o'clock to permit voting in the noon hour, the
making of nominations, in nearly all cases, by di-
rect caucus vote, without the intervention of nomi-
nating conventions, and the securing t<j every
voter of the right to vote in his party caucus
upon making oath to his party membership, — our
caucuses can easily be made into true primary
elections, giving fair and accurate expression ta
the desires of the majority of the voters of the
different political parties. It is of much impor-
tance, in the interest of good municipal govern-
ment in this city, that these additional safeguards
should bq thrown around the caucus; and it is
to be hoped that the work of the special recess
committee appointed by the last house of repre-
sentatives to investigate the conduct of caucuses in
Boston will result in the passage, at the coming
session of the legislature, of some comprehensive
and satisfactory law.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 45

Ultimately, and perhaps in the not distant
future, I believe that the difficulties now ex-
perienced in connection with the counting and
recounting of ballots, and also in respect to de-
termining what constitutes a vote upon a ballot,
will be practically removed by the adoption of
some simple and practical voting-machine. The
commonwealth has already taken some steps in
the direction of providing such machines, and they
were used in the city of Worcester at the last
state election.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

I expressed last year the opinion that "the
numerous organizations among our people, formed
for various pur|)oses, ought to play an impoi-tant
part in the work of keeping the citizen in
touch with the city government, and arousing
him to a sense of his vital interest in its work,'^
and stated that it would be my purpose to in-
vite the cooperation of all societies which were
prepared to take up municipal questions in a
public-spirited manner. In pursuance of this pol-
icy, early last summer a number of representative
charitable and philanthropic organizations were
invited by me to cooperate with the work of the
institutions department by constituting an ad-
visory board on public institutions, the members

46 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

of which should visit the different institutions main-
tained hy the city, interest themselves in their
work, and make from time to time such recom-
mendations for their improvement as they might
deem proper. This board was organized in
the month of August with twenty members,
representing the following organizations : Asso-
ciated Charities, Boston Provident Association,
Children's Aid -Society, Citizens' Association,
Committee of Council and Cooperation, Massa-
chusetts Prison Association, Massachusetts So-
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,
Medico-Psychological Society, Merchants' Municipal
Committee, Municii)al League, Society of St. Vin-
cent de Paul, Suffolk District Medical Society,
Twentieth Century Chib, United . Hebrew Be-
nevolent Association, and Young Ladies' Aid
Societv. The board was divided into four com-
mittees, of five members each, upon children's,
insane, pauper, and penal institutions, respectively.
Meetings of the whole board, at which the insti-
tutions commissioner and myself have been present,
have been held once a month at city hall, and
formal reports, making valuable recommendations
upon many important matteis, have been presented
from ti«ie to time by the different committees.
The board is composed of repiesentative and
public-spirited men and women, and the instilu-

MAYOR'S A I) DUE SS. 47

tions department has already materially benefited
by their advice ; I have no doubt that their
continued cooperation in its delicate and impor-
tant work will be productive of still more im-
portant and far-reaching results in the future.

This board partly accomplishes some of the
objects which were aimed at by the bill for the
separation of the institutions into four classes,
to be placed under three separate boards of trus-
tees and one commissioner, which was favorably
reported to the last legislature by the committee
on metropolitan affairs, but was defeated in the
senate. The experience of the past year has only
confirmed me in the conviction, based upon the *
considerations stated in my inaugural address, that
the best interests of the institutions demand a
change in the present system of centralized admin-
istration through a single commissioner, and the
passage of some measure for the appointment of
unpaid boards of trustees; the present institu-
tions commissioner heartily sympathizes with this
view. The arguments in favor of centralized busi-
ness management seem to me to be overborne, in
the case of institutions dealing with human beings,
by other considerations. The administration of \

charitable and reformatory institutions is not
merely, or even primarily, a business matter,
while of course they must be conducted with due

48 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

regard to business principles and methods. Hu-
manitarian management upon a scientific basis is
not inconsistent with true economy.

One of the strong arguments in favor of
administration through unpaid boards of trustees
is that the management of the various classes
of institutions would be put upon a basis where
it would be less liable to be afiected by polit-
ical changes. A consistent line of policy could
be then mapped out, with the assurance that it
could be given a fair trial and followed for a term
of years. The present system of administration
affords more possibility for the play of polit-
ical influences than any other could do. I am
thoroughly convinced also that distinct advan-
tages are gained by giving representation to
women in connection with public work of this
cliaracter, as provided in this bill; I have there-
fore increased the number of women upon the
Board of Overseers of the Poor from two to
three. The movement for the passage of a bill
for the division of the institutions, containing
substantially similar provisions to the one re-
ported last year, will be renewed at this session
of the legislature, and will receive my hearty
support.

Pending the passage of sucli a measure, it
will be the endeavor of the institutions com-

MAYOK'S ADDRESS. 49

missioner and myself to make every improvement
in the workings of the institutions which finan-
cial limitations will permit. With this object in
view, we have already visited a number of the
important institutions of the state, recognized as
conducted efficiently and in harmony with the
most advanced ideas. It must be admitted that
the public institutions of the city of Boston
have not in the past been as well managed as
simihu' institutions maintained by the common-
wealth, and a close comparison of the conduct
of our institutions with that of similar state in-
stitutions should certainly prove helpful.

A thorough, scientific examination of the dietaries
and cooking arrangements of the difterent institu-
tions has been instituted by the department; it
is fully expected that this investigation will be
productive of excellent results, and possibly of
some saving in the cost of subsistence. Modern
chemistry is placing the whole matter of nutrition
and cooking upon a scientific basis, and the city,
which constantly feeds several thousand persons
in its various institutions, should fully avail itself
of the results of scientific inquiry in this field. I
regret to be obliged to acknowledge that the food
furnished at the Marcella-street Home has not in
the recent past been of a character to meet fully
the admitted requirements of gi-owing children.

50 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

The question of starting an alphabetical card
catalogue or register of the inmates of our
different institutions, giving as full information
as possible about each, and enabling him or
her to be traced from one institution to another,
has received careful attention at the hands of
the advisory board. A system has been .agreed
upon, and will be started at once.

A most important and delicate work in con-
nection with the ])enal institutions, which has
been too much neglected in the past, is that of
assisting discharged i)risoners to make a fresh
start in life, and become self-su])i)orting and law-
abiding citizens. It seems to me that the work
of the institution should be supplemented by pre-
paring the prisoner for leaving it, and extend-
ing a helping and guiding hand to him at the
critical moment when he does so. The success-
ful performance of such work calls for unusual
(jualities, but 1 think that it should be under-
taken by the institutions department.

In filling the vacancy recently caused by the
resignation of an assistant commissioner, appointed
as a physician to have special charge of the medical
Avork of the dei)ai'tment, it was determined to make
the position a purely prof(\«!sional one, having no
administrative duties, and to give it a corre-
sponding title. One of the two assistant commis-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 51

sionerships was therefore abolished, and the
position of medical director was created, with
the same salary. This new position has been
filled solely with the desire of securing the best
possible professional qualifications for its impor-
tant work.

The new cell-house at Deer island, acconnnodat-
ing over five hundred inmates, is ready for occupancy
as soon as light can be sup[)lied to it, and this
will make possible a somewhat better classification
of the inmates. An electric plant is now in process
of installation, and it is hoped that it will be possi-
ble during the coming year to secure a sufficient
appropriation to supply by electricity all the light
required on Deer island. I believe that there is
great need of careful inquiry into the practical
operation of the laws under which persons are
sentenced to Deer island. The j^opulation of this
institution is larger than it should be.

The important work of industrial training at
the reformatory for boys at Rainsford island has
been greatly hampered for lack of suitable plant and
buildings. Plans for supplying this deficiency are
now under consideration, and some additional
machinery has already been ordered. It is of the
highest importance that the boys in this institution
should be thoroughly trained in some line of in-
dustrial oi' mechanical work. Unfortunatelv there

52 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

is not sufficient room upon the island to enable
the reformatory to accomplish the best results.

A summer hospital for infants, under the insti-
tutions department, was opened on this island
last summer, several of the old buildings having
been fitted up for the purpose, and a physician- of
special qualifications and experience in connection
with this work took charge of it. It is hoped
that it will be found possible to continue this
hospital during the coming summer.

The facilities for children in the Marcel la-street
Home are 'inadequate in several respects, and an ap-
])ropriation will shortly be requested for an addi-
tional building, to provide better dormitory and
play-room accommodations. The medical work of
the home has now been placed under a regularly
organized medical statt', serving without pay.

The apparent impossibility of securing last year
the very large appropriation required, prevented
any steps from being taken towai'ds the build-
ing of a new reformatory, to take the place of
the present house of correction at South Boston,
under chapter 53G of the acts of 1890. The
question of finding a suitable location for this
institution, within the limits of Suffolk county,
is a very difficult one, and it is questionable
whether the necessary land can be purchased,
and proper, buildings erected, within the limit of

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 5i

$500,000 prescribed in the act. It is important,
however, that some steps in the direction of
establishing such a reformatory should be taken
as soon as possible.

The old police boat has recently been transferred
to this department, and .now aflfords a much-needed
addition to the faciUties for reaching the institutions
located upon the islands in the harbor.

CITY HOSPITAL.

The city hospital has been fully maintained dur-
ing the past year on the advanced standard which
has given it during recent years such a high rank
among the great public hospitals, not only of this
country, but of the world. Some of the important
improvements which have been in progress have
been completed, and others will be ready for use
during the coming year. Two new surgical wards,
accommodating fifty-nine additional patients, have
been finished and occupied, and are found to be
the best wards in the hospital. The new surgical
operating rooms, which are probabh" the most ex-
tensive and complete of any in the country, and
have been given the highest praise by competent
critics, are now in use, marking a new period in
the history of the hospital. The old surgical oper-
ating building is in process of reconstruction.
Important improvements have been made upon the

54 MAYOirS ADDRESS.

grounds. A complete electric-light plant is in pro-
cess of installation. The plans for the new laundiy
building, so much needed, for which the sum of
iP36,000 was appropriated, are nearly completed,
and contracts will be made as soon as the
weather permits work to be done. This building
will be complete in all its arrangements, and
will constitute a very important addition to . the
present conveniences of the hospital. The want
which the trustees feel to be the most j)ressing
at present is that of further accommodations for
nurses. The amount necessary to purchase for
this purpose the estates on the corner of Mas-
sachusetts and Harrison avenues, which are within
the line of the proper boundary of the hospital
grounds, namely, $68,000, was once appropriated,
but Avas transferred to another purpose. The
number of nurses is now 127, and this number
will soon be materially increased ; the present
nurses' home only accommodates about 70, the
others being distributed through the hospital
buildings, taking room which might be used for
the accommodation of additional patients. I
earnestly recommend an appropriation to meet
this need.

At an estimated expenditure of $16,000, a coal
pocket can be constructed for the use of the
hospital, into which coal can be landed by the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 55

cargo, affecting an appreciable reduction in its
cost, so that the expense involved could be saved
in five or six years.

The subject of establishing a down-town relief
station, for the temporary care of j)ersons injured
by accident or otherwise in the business section,
has for some time received careful attention at
the hands of the trustees and the staff. Such a
relief station, connected . with the hospital and
under the same management, with an ambulance
attached to it, would meet an important want,
and its establishment has been strongly urged
by many well-known citizens and business firms.
The estimated expense for a plant for this pur-
pose, outside of rent of building, is $16,000,
and the annual maintenance cost is estimated at
$25,000. I have given some attention to this
subject, and am prepared to recommend the
necessary appropriations.

The hospital has been nearly full at all times
during the year, and the number of ambulance
calls has more than doubled over previous years.
By close and economical management and the
postponement of some necessary repairs on the old
buildings, the trustees w^ill be enabled to finish
the financial year within their appropriation.

5f ) MAYOR'S ADDRESS

SCHOOLS.

Early in the year I appointed a special expert
commission to inquire into the necessity of improve-
ments in sanitation and ventilation in our school
buildings, for which the school committee had re-
quested a large appropriation. The result of this
inquiry, which was carried to the point of prepar-
ing plans and securing reliable estimates of cost,
was to fully establish the necessity of even larger
expenditures than the school connnittee had rec-
ommended. In the month of March I sent a
messasre to the citv council earnestly recommend-
ing a loan appropriation of $300,000 for this pur-
pose. Unfortunately, owing to some controversy
as to the respective authorities of the execu-
tive and of the school connnittee, the passage of
this loan order was delayed until the end of
June, and it was then too late to have new plans
prei)ared, as i*equired by the school committee, and
to comi)lete any large ])()rtion of the work during
the sunnner vacation. Under the understanding
arrived at with the connnittee, thorough plans and
specifications have been prepared for all work
uudertaken, and these have been subject to my
api)roval. The sum of $172,9;')0.8() has now been
expended out of the amount approi)riated, mainly
for changes in the plumbing of different school-

MAYOK'S ADDRESS. 57

houses, and considerable improvement in sanitary
conditions has ah'eady resulted; but a large
amount of this work, of pressing necessity, still
remains to be done, and I recommend an addi-
tional loan appropriation for its continuance during
the next summer vacation.

The school committee has exceeded its appro-
priations of $2,173,400 for the current financial
year by the sum of $117,000. Responsible execu-
tive control of the finances of the city is seriously
impaired by the power of the committee to spend
money beyond the appro])riation8, and its readi-
ness to use such power.

I believe that the control by the school com-
mittee of important executive work, such as the
construction and repair of buildings, tends to in-
terfere with its proper educational functions, and
fails to secure the best results for the city. It
is a continuance of the old practice of adminis-
tration by committees, which has been condemned
and abandoned in connection Avith all other
city business. The right to determine what work
shall be done, and to approve plans before they
ai*e adopted, properly belongs to the school com-
mittee: but the work should be laid out l)y, and
performed under the sole direction of, some
executive ofticei', who can be lield responsible
foi' results secured and for economy in expend-

58 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

iture. I am happy to be able to state, how-
ever, that there has been a very marked improve-
ment during the past year in the professional
standing of the architects selected by the com-
mittee, with my approval, to build new school-
houses.

The expense of purchasing sites for new school
buildings has been very heavy, and under the
awards of the street commissioners the citv has
been obliged to pay, in many instances, as
high as one hundred per cent, in excess of
assessed valuations. The* approval of the mayor
is required when a lot of land is selected by
the school conunittee, but at present he has no
control over the price to be paid for it.

PKINTINCi DEPARTMENT.

For a number of years the Typographical Union
has been endeavonng to secui*e the recognition
by the city of the organization of the printing
craft, through the appointment of some member
of the union as superintendent of printing. I
stated a year ago that " in some foreign coun-
tries organizations of wage-earnei-s take a con-
stant, active, and intelligent interest in municipal
(juestions, and some of their members occupy
im])oi'tant i)ositions and render useful service in
connection with citv governments," and that similar

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 59

cooperation mig*ht well be encouraged to a greater
extent than in the past in American cities.
After mature consideration, I concluded that it
would be advisable, in pursuance of the policy
thus indicated, to place in charge of the city
printing some member of the Typographical Union
thoroughly qualified to fill such a position, and
that this step would be in the public interest;
I am now entirely satisfied that this has proved
to be the case. It seems to me highly desirable
to make organized bodies of intelligent wage-
earners feel that they are directly represented in
the management of public business, particularly
such as pertains to their several trades.

The city printing has been done for the last
twenty years under a contract made in 1876, and
allowed to run on without change since that
time. About $70,000 a year is now paid out for
composition and press-work alone. When the
present superintendent of printing took office, I
instructed him to examine carefully into the ex-
penditui-es for printing, and to report to me
whether the city could not with advantage
establish a ])lant for itself, to do a part or the
whole of its own printing. After careful investi-
gation, both the superintendent and myself have
become satisfied that the city should take steps
in this direction. The continuance of the con-

()0 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

tract referred to stood in the way of adopting
this policy, as it gave the contractor all of the
printing of the city. As it was originally
made through the joint committee on printing
of the city council, at a time when it exercised
powers since vested in the executive, it seemed
necessary that action for its abrogation should be
taken by this committee, as well as by the superin-
tendent of printing, and this has just been effected.
Typogi'aphical unions have for .many years
urged the establishment of public printing plants
for the execution of public pi'inting, and the
printers of this city have warmly favored the
l)roposed establishment of a municipal plant.
The new policy will be inaugurated in a care-
ful and conservative manner. Probably only a
]>ortion of the city printing will be undertaken
at first, and the work of the municipal plant
only gradually ext^ended. In the meantime
the |)resent contractors will continue to do such
])orti()n of the city printing as the municipal
plant is not ready to take. It should be stated,
in justice to them, that both the quality of their
work and the manner in which it has been
executed have been found satisfactory.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. ()1

ELECTKIGAL COXSTRI'CTIOX.

Believing in the principle that the city should do
directly for itself, without the intervention of con-
tractors, as much of its own work as it may be found
practicable and economical so to do, I have during
the past year brought entirely under the control
of a city depaitment a branch of public work, of
constantly growing importance, which had hereto-
fore been intrusted to private contractors. Last
May an electrical construction division was estal)-
lished under the department of public buildings, and
heads of departments were instructed to apply to this
division for all electrical work, whether coming
under the head of repairs or new construction. An
expert practical electrician was appointed chief of
this division, and its work has assumed considerable
importance. All materials required for electrical
w^ork have been purchased at wholesale, at the low-
est possible prices, and carried in stock; and an
efficient electrical corps, able to handle the different
bi*anches of electrical work, has been organized.
This city has been somewhat l)ehind the times in the
introduction of electric lighting in its various public
buildings and institutions, and consequently there
is an urgent demand for quite a large amount of
new electrical installation, including a number of
isolated plants.

()2 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

The work of installing the electric-lighting plant
at the city hospital, for which the sum of .f-l:0,0()0
had been appropriated, was turned over to this
division. This work has been prosecuted as rap-
idly as possible; a contract for the dynamos and
engines has recently been awarded, at a low figure,
and the installation will be completed within the next
few months. It is expected that this plant, which
will be a very important addition to the hospital,
will be of the most modern and improved character,
and that it will prove a credit to the city. The
cost is not expected to exceed estimates given by
private contractors foi* doing the same w^ork in a
less satisfactory manner.

This division has also reconstructed the elec-
trical work at the Chestnut Hill reservoir, which
was found to be in a dangerous condition, and
has done a considerable amount of work at Long
island and Deer island, besides installing a large
number of lights in school-houses and city offices,
and at the Stime time attending to all the calls
for electrical repair work, which have assumed
considerable proportions.

I think that it can safely be claimed that the
total cost of doing the electrical work of the city
will at least be no greater on the present basis,
while the quality of the work done and of the
stock used, which is a matter of great impor-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 63

tance, will be better. As an illustration of the
loss that may be occasioned by imperfect work,
I may mention that it has been found by the
chief of this division that, through hnperfeet in-
sulation, the county of Suffolk is i)aying for
$l,2(X) woi-th of electricity each year in the new
court-house which is lost before it gets to the
lights. The division has just been intrusted
with the further duty of inspecting the use of
electric lights in the different offices of the city,
with a view to checking unnecessary waste of
current.

The snm of f 15,000 will be asked for this branch
of work, under the approi)riation for the i)ublic
buildings department, for the coming financial
year, and this amount, with such additional sums
as may be provided by loan, for electrical con-
struction for other departments, should maintain
the division upon an efficient working basis.

WIRK DEPAKTMEXT.

The total length of overhead wires in the district
in which the work of placing wires underground
was carried on during 1896 was about fourteen
million feet, about two-thirds of which will be
removed as soon as the several companies own-
ing them have their underground cables drawn into
])lace and ])roperly connected. 1()7,000 feet of

(>4 MAYORS ADDRESS.

• subway, ami 784,000 feet of ducts, with 614
manholes, Avere constructed. A large amount of
abandoned wires have been removed, and about
3,300 offices and buildings were inspected to as-
certain if the wires w^ere properly fused. Some
1,500 notices of defects were sent to the inter-
ested parties. The work of the interior wiring
division has materially increased, wiring and ap-
pliances having been inspected for over 1,800 arc
lamps, 70,000 incaiulescent lights, and 694 motors..
AVires and appliances in process of installation in
all new buildings were carefully inspected. None
of the seventeen fires caused by electricity during
the year were due to wires or fixtures which
had been inspected by the department. Frequent
measurements have been made of the insulation
of the electric plants of theatres, hotels, and other
large buildings.

nrrLDixc; department.

Notwithstanding disturbed financial conditions,
the numl)er of permits issued by the building de-
partment for the erection and alteration of build-
ings has exceeded the I'ccord of any previous
year. The inspection force, which has for some
time been insufficient, has been materially strength-
ened by the apj)ointment of two additional build-
ing inspoctois and three additional ins])ectors of

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 65

plumbing. Through this increase it has been
possible to oi'ganize the department into divi-
sions, consisting of an architectural division, a con-
struction division, a plumbing division, an egress
division, and an elevator and hoistway division,
each under a separate head. The legal work
connected with this department has been in-
creasing so rapidly as to call for the special
detail of an assistant of the law de|)artment,
which has produced much more satisfactory re-
sults in checking and punishing persistent attempts
to violate or evade the building laws.

BUILDING OPERATIONS.

For the reasons given in my inaugural, I
a])pointed early in the year a consulting archi-
tect, attached to the mayor's office. Experience
during the year has constantly demonstrated the
necessity of having such an officer, if the mayor
is to exercise with any care and intelligence the
important powers relating to the building opera-
tions of the city now placed in his hands by the
charter. Important matters have constantly been
referred to the consulting architect, and reported
upon by him, and he has in many ways ren-
dered valuable services to the city.

The architect division of the public buildings
department has been thoroughly reorganized and

66 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

placed upon an efficient working basis, under the
direction of a well-trained architect. Even under
the present system of employing private architects
for all new buildings, questions are constantly
arising which should be referred to this divi-
sion, and from time to time the city has impor-
tant pieces of work, coming under the head of
repairs rather than of new construction, which call
for services which it can well render. It also
has an important function as a centi*al reference
and record office for the plans of all city build-
ings. It is necessary, further, that all repair work
involving any reconstruction should be carefully
jjlanned, and that drawings and specifications for
its execution should be prepared before it is
undertaken.

Aside from the duty devolving upon the archi-
tect division of supervising the completion of build-
ings in progress at the time when the architect
department was abolished, several of which have
only recently been finished, it has had charge of
the important alterations recently undertaken, and
now nearly completed, in the upper stories of
citv hall. These alterations, which will cost about
$15,000, will practically add some ten thousand
square feet of floor space, in well-lighted rooms
suitable for business offices and engineering work,
to the present cramped accommodations.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 67

I am strongly in favor of improving and ex-
tending the existing office accommodations of the
city govei'nment in or immediately adjacent to
city hall, and of putting off for many years to
come the expensive undertaking of building a
new hall. In accordance with this policy, I have
urged, since the beginning of last year, the
acquisition by the city of the estate owned by
the Massachusetts Historical Society, between the
old Probate building and Tremont street. This
building is of fireproof construction, and four
additional stories can be added to it at an esti-
mated expense of about $130,000. In order to
prevent the possible sale of this estate to other
parties, the two lower floors of the building were
leased by the city during the year, with the right
to purchase the whole building for the sum of
$200,000. I am gratified to l)e able to state that
such arrangements have now been made that the
city can in all probability secure the title to this
building for a cash payment of $50,000, and that
$25,000 of this amount has just been provided
by loan. An architect has been selected for the
building of the additional stories, and the plans
will soon be ready. AVhen this addition is com-
pleted, the city will secure a large increase,
at a veiy reasonable cost, in its present insuffi-
cient business quartei's, and a substantial amount

68 MAYOR'S ADDKESS.

of money now expended for rentals can be saved.
Later the Probate building should be rebuilt,
to correspond with tlie Historical Society building,
and the city will then have a continuous struct-
ure, nine stories high, extending from Court
square to Tremont street, and connected directly
with the city hall.

PAKK DKPARTMRXT.

AVork upon th6 North End park is now being
vigorously prosecuted. A contract for tei'racing,
grading, and finishing the portion of the park
west of Atlantic avenue is wfeU under way, and
will be completed by next summer. After care-
ful study, |)lans have been ])repared, calling for
an expenditure of about $30,000, for the bath-
house for women, with an adjoining administra-
tion building, to be placed upon the southerly side
of the portion of the park adjacent to the harbor.
Plans for the ])iling and the covered pier have
been completed by the city engineer, and the work
of pile-driving will shortly be begun; the pier,
which has an open promenade on its roof, and bath-
houses for men connected with it, should also be
ready for use by next summer. A bathing-beach
has already been made, and it is expected that the
facilities for bathing in the open harbor which will
thus be furnished will be very largely used by the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. (59

residents in this thickly settled section. A protected
l)lace for small boats will be provided between
the pier and the shore. The long-delayed com-
pletion of this local marine park, which now seems
near at hand, will add a nnique and popular feature
to the park system. The provision by a nmnici-
pality of attractive accommodations for open-air
bathing, in the middle of the water front and close
by the most thickly populated districts, is an im-
portant departure, and its results will be watched
with much interest.

During the last year the need of some better
organization and more responsible control of the
important and varied work of this department be-
came manifest, and, at my suggestion, the office of
general superintendent was created. This position
has been temporarily held during the last few
months by a member of the engineering force of
the , department, and a permanent appointment has
just been made. After carefijl consideration of the
mattei*, the commission decided that this important
positioji could only be filled satisfactorily by a
man of special training in, and qualifications for,
])ark work, and the aj)pointment was made with
the sole desire of securing the best man for the
pur])()se, wherever he could be found.

'I'he connnission has recently become satisfied
that the woi-k of the de])artment could be better

70 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

carried on if the main office were located in the
centre of the park system. It has therefore been
decided to make use of the park building at Pine
Bank, and the office will be removed to that point
within the next few months.

The transfer of the park police force from
the park department to the police department
has been decidedly disadvantage ous, and the park
commission will, with my approval, apply foi* the
passage of an act restoring this force to its
control. Effective administration of the park
system absolutely requires that the officers charged
with the duty of enforcing laws and regulations
within the park limits shall be under the inmie-
diate direction of the park authorities.

STKEKT DEPARTMKXT.

The necessity of reducing durmg the winter
season the number of men employed by the
sti-eet department, owing to the impossibility of
carrying on at that time the work of street
construction, has long been a source of embar-
rassment. While it is desirable, both from the
standpoint of maintaining an efficient working
organization and from that of })roper considera-
tion for the men employed, to maintain the force
as nearly as possible upon a permanent basis,
nevertheless considerable reductions in the number

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 71

of men employed are sometimes necessary. The
superintendent of streets has lately proposed a
plan for dealing with this difficulty which meets
with my hearty approval, and it is expected
that it will shortly be put into eifect. This
proposal is that the minimum number of em-
ployees in each division of the department
whose services ai'e needed all the year round
should be carefully estimated; that employees
up to this number should be put upon the basis
of a permanent force, to be constantly employed;
and that all employees in excess of this number
should be ranked as substitutes, to be employed
only during such portions of the year as the
department has occasion for their services,
vacancies in the permanent force to be filled
from this list of substitutes. This is sub-
stantially the same system which is success-
fully applied in the police and fire departments,
and it would seem to be a more busine§s-like
policy for the city, and more fair and satisfVictory
to the men. Even on this basis the number of
men permanently employed by the street depart-
ment would be in excess of two thousand.

In this connection, I desire to call ' attention
to one serious difficulty which the street depart-
ment suflers fnmi. The laborious nature of its
work calls for men of good health and strength.

72 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

At present there is a considerable percentage
of old men in the different divisions, who are
not entirely fitted for the work which they are
called upon to perform. The majority of these
men have grown old in the sei'vice of the city,
and the street department, under its various
heads, has not eonsidei*ed it jnst or proper to
discharge them; they have been continued from
year to year, somewhat lessening the efficiency
of the service, and making it difficult for the
heads of divisions to accomplish the best results.
I submit this difficulty to your consideration.

There is one important defect in the policy which
has been pursued by the city, under pressure of
financial necessities, in connection with the main-
tenance of street snrfaces. The proper system to
follow is that of constantly repairing defects, as fast
as they become noticeable. But this would have to
be paid for out of the maintenance appropriation,
and the pressure upon this fund has been so great
that the department has been obliged to allow
street surfaces to wear out almost entirely, and
then to renew them out of a loan apj)ropriation.
If the city could be divided into small districts
and a few men kept constantly at work in each,
repairing minor defects and keeping the street
surfaces up to pro])er condition, it would result in
decided economy in the long run. The parkways

M A YOirS ADDRESS. 73

are now cared for on this system of constant
repair work, with most excellent and economical
results.

It has been the policy of the street department
durrnjjf the past year to extend as far as possible
the use of asphalt for pavements, and a consider-
ably larger amount of such pavement has been
laid than in any jDrevious year. I am strongly in
favor of the increased use of asphalt for street
surfaces. Within the last ten or fifteen years
the laying and maintenance of asphalt streets
have been reduced in this country to a thoroughly
scientific basis, and recently, with the improved
methods which have been introduced, and some
cheapening of cost, the area of asphalt pave-
ment in our principal cities has been increasing
vei'y rapidly. Boston has been somewhat back-
ward in appreciating the advantages of this form
of street surface; I think that it should be used,
as it has been this year on Huntington avenue
and the extension of Columbus avenue, upon all
streets to which it is suited. The city of New
York has been expending the sum of $1,000,000
a year upon asphalt streets, and they are
being extensively laid in tenement, as w^ell as
in residential, districts; it is claimed that the
rate of mortality in certain tenement districts has
actually been i-educed by the asphalt j)avement,

*74 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

owing to its far greater cleanliness. The prob-
lems of street watering and of street cleaning
are greatly simplified wherever asphalt is used,
and it has shown its abilit}' to stand even the
heaviest traffic about as well as any other form
of pavement.

With the beginning of the present calendar
year the department has established a small charge
for each permit issued for making an opening in
a street, or for any other purpose

PAVrXG DIVISIOX.

Work upon the five wide avenues extending out
from the city has been vigorously prosecuted and
will be pushed to completion during the coming
year. The construction of Commonwealth-avenue
extension to the Newton line, of Bi-ighton
avenue from Commonwealth avenue to Union
square, and of Huntington avenue from Copley
square to the Brookline line, have been substan-
tially completed. The extension of Columbus
avenue has been completed as an asphalt street
from Massachusetts avenue to the Roxbury cross-
ing, and as a telford macadam street from West
Walnut park to Walnut avenue, leaving an unfin-
ished gap of about one mile between these sections.
Blue Hill avenue has been practically finished from
Grove Hall to the ])rincipal enti'ance to ^Franklin

MAYOR'S ADDRESS: < o

park, and one of the two roadways has been so
far completed as to be in use from Franklin pai-k
to Walk Hill street.

A large area ' of macadam streets has been
wholly or partially constructed under the assess-
ment law, and twenty-eight public streets have
been wholly or partially repaved or surfaced at the
expense of the city. About 157,000 square yards
of macadam, 51,000 square yards of asphalt,
27,000 square yards of granite pavement, and 13,000
square yards of artificial stone sidewalks, have
been completed during the year. 96,000 feet, or
about nineteen miles, of new" edgestone have been
set, as against about 50,000 for an ordinary year;
and over 131,000 square yards of block pave-
ments, requiring over 2,000,000 new blocks, have
been laid in streets and guttei's, against 105 ,()()()
square yards for the lai'gest year heretofoi*e.

Two new crushers, of the latest improved
j>attern, have been set up, one in Koxbui-y and
one in West Roxbury, so that the paving division
now has seven in operation; important improve-
ments in screens, to secure the diffei*ent sizes
of stone required for street work, have been made.
Improvements in tlie two stone crusheis in the
Brighton district have also been nuide, saving
labor in shovelling stone and otherwise increas-
ing their output. All of the immense quantity of

76 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

cracked stone needed for the work upon tlie new
avenues, as well as the large amount required
for the regular work of the division, was turned
out by the city's crushers, with the exception of
the stone for one section of Blue Hill avenue.
Close attention has been given to the matter of
allowing only the hardest kind of stone to be
put through the crushers, and the best of ma-
terial for street work has thus been secured.
Steam power has been substituted for horses in
loading edgestones at the South End yard, seem-
ing greater economy and a saving of time.

'J^he extensive work involved in the construction
of Cottage Farm bridge has been completed, and
a loam speedway seven-eighths of a mile long has
been constructed between this bridge and Brighton
avenue.

The sti*eet- inspection work has been wholly re-
organized, and new regulations have been made as
to the opening of streets, so that each one can
be systematically followed up and the jM'oper
replacing of the roadway surface secured. Under
the dii'ection of the street dej)ai'tment, the West
End Sti'cet Kailway Company has put in a new
type of rail, especially suited to an asphalt street,
with a flush lip. Over twenty-four miles of track
work have been ]'ej)aved by this comj)any with
new blocks, under the inspection of the depart-

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 77

rnent, thus securing tlvis large amount of inij)roved
roadway service.

SKWEU DIVISION'.

Through the loan appropriations secured, ihe
sewei' division has been enabled during the year
to enter upon a nunibei' of pieces of important
construction, long delayed and urgently needed,
and a larger amount of work has been done than
evei' before in the history of the division, nearly
eiofht hundred men havino* recentlv been em-
ployed. The connections with the metropolitan
sewer system in East Boston and Charlestown
are well under way, and will be conii)leted dur-
ing the coming year, to the great benefit of the
residents of these sections. In Dorchester, the
auxiliary pumping-station at Lyons street has been
completed, and the Shanu*ock-street and Devon-
street outlets have been begun. In South Bos-
ton, the D-street, Seventh-street, and Dorr-street
outlets have been started, and in Koxbnry the
Guild-row relief sewer and the extension of the
Dorcliester-brook main sewer are under way. A
beginning has also been made upon the construc-
tion of the Canal-street relief sewer, which has
been adv^ocated for many years. There are many
old sewers in the city, inadequate and unfit for
use, which should be replaced by new ones as
fast as money can be secured.

78 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

The necessary repairs upon the valuable pump-
ing plant at the main drainage work^ have
been partially made, and provision for completing
them must be made during the coming year.
The need of an incinerating plant in connection
Avith these works, for disposing of the miscel-
laneous articles collected at the exit of the sewer,
has long been felt, and an order for the con-
struction of a small incinerator has just been given.
The new main channel of Stony brook, from the
gate-house to the existing channel south of Hogg's
bridge, is. well under way, and will also be
finished during the year.

The sewer divisicm has charge of all natural
watei'-courses and surface water, and this is an
extremely complicated and difficult matter to deal
with. Some legislation in relation to such water-
courses is greatly needed, and will be applied for
at this session of the legislature.

The maintenance appropriation of this division
is inadecjuate for keeping the sewerage system
in proper condition, and the work of cleaning out
catch-basins cannot be done as often as it should
be. . A machine for this purpose, which has been
successfully used in Canada, has been ordered,
and will shortly be in operation.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 79 *

S ANITA KY DIVISION.

Both (luring the last year and the year before,
the sanitary division was obliged to expend a con-
siderable amount in excess of its appropriation.
In 1895-6 the appropriation was $400,000, and the
expenditures about $432,000, while for the year
1896-7 the appropriation is $435,000, and the
expenditures will amount to about $475,000. The
latter sum, however, is still less than the amount
which was expended by the sanitary division for
the year 1893-4, and very slightly in excess of
its expenses for the years 1892-3 and 1894-5.
The increased expenditure of this year over the
last seems a large one, but a careful analysis of
the accounts of the division shows that the greater
cost is more than balanced by increased work,
performed, and I am satisfied that it has been
managed in a careful and economical manner.
The simple fact is, that the demands of our
citizens in this line of service are rapidly in-
creasing^ from vear to vear, and these demands
have to be met. House dirt and offal must be
removed and disposed of, whatever may be its
amount.

The percentage of increase in the expenditures
of the division is less than the percentage of
increase in the quantity of material to be handled.

80 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

The amount expended for city labor in the
removal of ashes has only increased four ])er
cent, over that spent last year, while the num-
ber of loads removed has increased eleven per
cent., so that the cost per load moved has been
mateiiallv reduced. The same statement is true
as to the removal of offal. A new blacksmith
shop has been added to this division, to accom-
modate the northei-n districts, and still further
economies in this line of work are to be intic-
duced.

This division is in pressing need of an addi-
tional dumping scow. In case of an accident to
either of the two scows now in use, which occa-
sionally occurs, serious embarrassments result. A
tow boat, for the exclusive use of the department,
is also desirable. The present wharf facilities are
insufficient, and only one boat at a time can now
be docked. With further room, the division
could repair its own boats, instead of being
obliged to send theni to East Boston. It seems
desirable that some good wharf properties for the
use of this division should be secured in East
Boston and South Boston. Much of the material
collected cannot be used even for filling, • md
the difficulties of disposing of it otherwise than by
taking it to sea are increasing every year.

The time is fast coming when a portion of the

MAYOR'S ADDRSSS. 81

matter collected will be disposed of by some
incinerating process; but even then locations upon
the water front will be desirable, for a number
of reasons. The cremation of garbage by the
reduction process is in successful operation
in several cities, under contract arrangements,
and has just been started in the city of New
York. The revenue from the sale of swill to
farmers has fallen off materially during the last
year, owing to the low price of pork, and
public opinion is likely to demand before long
the discontinuance of this method of disposing
of garbage. The swill-yard adjacent to the Mar-
cella-street Home has long been a nuisance to
that institution during the summer season, and
some arrangement for its removal will shortly be
made.

STREET-CLEANIl^G DIVISION.

The work of the street-cleaning division has
been intelligently and efficiently carried on during
the year. With an expenditure substantially the
same as that of last year, a larger number of
miles of streets have been cleaned, and more
loads of dirt have been removed, than ever
before. The important work of the patrol or
push-cart service, which now employs forty-six
men, has been extended and further systematized,
and the men now wear uniform caps and badges.

82 MAYOR'S ADDRESS;

A special man has been assigned to the duty oF
keeping clean, after a snow-storm, every crossmg
in the down-town district.

BRIDGE DIVISION.

The work of the bridge division, which has
charge of one hundred and tw^enty-four bridges
of various descriptions, has been handled in a
careful manner. Many of these bridges are old,
and in such a condition that they require close
care and intelligent attention* to repairs to keep
them in fit condition for use. The method of
keeping the repair account has been changed so
as to show the cost of each particular job done,
which had not been shown heretofore. Dupli-
cates of all wearing parts have been provided
for immediate use in case of emergency. A sub-
stantial saving has been effected by having lum-
ber delivered in the exact lengths required for
use.

FERRIES.

In the ferry division, electric motors are being
substituted for tow-horses, with entirely satisfac-
tory results, to assist in pulling heavy teams up
the drops, and this will result in substantial sav-
ing, as well as improved service. Two ferry-boats
which had not been out of the water for a num-
ber of years have been hauled out and metalled..

MAYOR'S ADDKES a, 83

Electric lighting has been extended, and a number
of important minor improvements have been made.
Three new drops have been put into position, to
replace old ones pronounced by the city engi-
neer to be dangerous, and have been paid for
out of the special loan of $500,000 for improved
ferry facilities. The ferry-boat '^Ben Franklin,"
built in 1871, is fast reaching the limit of her
usefulness, and a new boat to take her place
should be contracted for at once; and the feiTy-
boat ^^Winthrop," built in 1873, can hardly be
expected to do service for many years more.

The question of providing additional ferry facili-
ties, under the provisions of chapter J:35 of the

acts of 1895, has engaged the attention of the

•

street department and of the committee on ferries
of the city council, but no feasible way of pi'o-
viding a ferry landing at a new point on the
Boston side, within the money available, seems yet
to have been pointed out. It has been suggested
by the street department that, in view of the
serious difficulties in the way of securing such
new landing, it might be wiser to devote the
money available to extending and improving
the present landings and adding more slips; but
the best settlement of this matter, as stated above,
would probably be the acquisition of the Kevere
Beach railway ferry-landing.

84 MAYOR'S ADDRESS

STREET WATERING.

The street-watering service has such a bear-
ing upon the comfort and health of the public
that it is important to make it as efficient
and comprehensive as possible. It is extremely
difficult to keep macadam streets, so largely used
in the residential sections of the city, so that
they are neither dusty nor muddy. Upon windy
days in dry weather nothing short of almost
continuous watenng will prevent the dust from
flying in clouds. It is hoped that it ' will be
possible to expend a somewhat larger amount of
money during the coming year upon the street-
watering service and to make it more efficient.

An electric watering-car has recently been tried
by a number of smaller cities in this common-
wealth, with results which are pronounced highly
satisfactory. There seems to be no reason why
such a service should not be successfully in-
troduced in this city, thereby secui'ing at an
economical cost the watering of many miles of
paved streets which are not touched by the
present service. Hydrants for the replenishing of
these watering-cars are placed between the street-
railway tracks, at intervals of about one-half mile,
and the tank can be filled without requiring a
longer stoppage than is often necessary for taking

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 85

on passengers. A few months ago, several miles
of the West End street-railway track were equipped
with hydrants for a test, and a watering-car was
operated in a satisfactory manner; but the trial
was discontinued owing to doubts entertained by
the management of the company as to its right,
under its charter, to operate such cars. The
arrangement proposed is that a contract for the
watering of certain streets should be made be-
tween the city and a company controlling these
watering-cars, such company then contracting with
the street-railway company for the furnishing of
current and for track rights. There seems to be
no reason why the West End company should not
be authorized, at the request of the municipality,
to perform its part of this service, and a special
act for this purpose will be asked for at the
coming session of the legislature. The service
should be made a general one. If it had to
be paid for out of the general taxes of the city it
would probably have to be too limited, and there-
fore it would seem to be desirable to assess the
expense upon the abutters on paved streets so
watered.

FKAXOHISES IN STREETS.

The only franchise granted to a new company
during the past year has been that giving to
the Boston Pneumatic Transit Company the right

86 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

to lay atid maintain pneumatic tubes in certain
streets, for the transmission of mail matter and
small articles of merchandise. An executive con-
tract was made in connection with the grant of
this franchise, which establishes, for the first time
in this city, I believe, the principle of payment
for the use of streets by private corporations.
Beginning with a smaller return, this company is
finally to pay two and one-half per cent, of its
annual gross earnings into the treasury of the
city. While the amount of revenue to be received
in this particular case is a comparatively small
one, owing to the somewhat novel character of
the enterprise and the commercial uncertainty
attending it, a precedent of much importance has
been established. Application will be made to
this legislature for the passage of some act for-
mally giving to the city government the right to
make arrangements of this character exacting a
pecuniary return for the grant of rights in the
public streets.

STREET CHANGES.

The street commissioners have for some years
favored the cutting down of the present grade
of Bowdoin street so as to make it a prac-
ticable thoroughfare, at least for carriages. This
plan was recently brought forward in connec-
tion with the completion of the state house

MAYOR'S ADI)UE.<^Sv 87

grounds, but it was found that the requirements
-of these grounds and their approaches which were
deemed by the state house commissioners to be
necessary, stood in the way of any adequate
loweriug of the grade of this street, and also
of its widening on the side adjacent to the
state house. It is to be regretted that the
•opportunity of making a valuable thoi'oughfare,
which would be a benefit to the city, thus
seems to be shut off. I desire to suggest, as a
partial substitute, the reduction of the present
grade of Somerset street, between Beacon and
Howard streets, to about six feet in one hundred,
and the extension of this street to Court street.
A practicable route for carriages across Beacon
Tiill by way of Park street would thus be
opened. The grade damages ought not to be
serious, and such a change of gi'ade would inci-
•dentally greatly benefit the new court house.
The grade of Ashburton place would have to be
rsomewhat changed at the same time.

A plan has been prepared by the street commis-
sioners, at my request, for extending Swett street
from Andrews square, at a width of seventy feet,
in the line of Preble, Mercer, and Burnham
streets, to East Ninth street. The length of this
extension and widening would be about half a
mile, and a new and important thoroughfare from

88 MAYOR'S ADDBB88.

the South End to Sonth Boston, over which
electric cars would doubtless be run, would
thus be opened. The section of this extension
between East Ninth street and the Old Colony
railroad would, if the plan for relocating the
Old Colony tracks above mentioned is carried
out, connect the end of the Strandway with the
present roadbed of the Old Colony, which would
then become a parkway.

The street commissioners are ready to widen
Canal and Haverhill streets, on the sides next to
the old Boston and Maine terminal, to the width
of seventy feet, as soon as the transit commission
is prepared to allow them to do so, and this im-
portant improvement will shortly be made.

STREET LAYTN^G-OUT DEPARTMENT.

The work of mapping out undeveloped territory
in the outlying wards of the city, under chapter
323 of the acts of 1891 and amendments thereto,
has been earned forward under the direction of
the board of street commissioners. During the
last year 42 sectional plans (7 in Roxbury, 15
in West Koxbury, 15 in Dorchester and the South
Bay, and 5 in Brighton) have been filed in the
office of the city engineer, and some 20 addi-
tional sections, now in progress, will be ready
for filing during the present month.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 89

The long-promised widening of Clinton street
has been completed, and an important improve-
ment has also been made in St, Martin street,
Chariest own, by the construction of a much-needed
flight of steps. The streets around the new union
station — Dorchester avenue, the extension of Sum-
mer street, and new Cove street — have also been
planned, and the widening of Congress street to
80 feet, from Atlantic avenue to Fort Point chan-
nel, has been ordered. Plans for the widening of
Tremont street, Brighton, from Oak square to the
IS^ewton line, to the width of 70 feet, have been
completed, and this desirable improvement should
be made as soon as possible.

Under the provisions of chapter 323 of the acts
of 1891, the city has the right to borrow not ex-
ceeding three million dollars, in excess of sinking
funds, for the purpose of constructing new streets
and sewers, the cost of which is to be repaid by
special assessments upon abutters. The privilege of
securing the building of streets and sewers under
the provisions of this act has been so largely made
use of by the owners oC real estate in process of
development, that the above limit has now nearly
been reached. Bonds to the amount of $3,350,-
000 have already been issued, and only $150,000
more are now available, and the resources for
this year will be far more than exhausted for

<)0 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

construction work on streets and sewers already
ordered and urgently demanded. Application
will be made to the legislature for the passage
of an act raising the present limit of the
amount of money which can be borrowed, with
the provision that any excess above such limit
shall be expended solely in such a manner that
it will be fully repaid by the assessments. As
the city will thus merely be lending its credit
upon good security, there is no reason why it
should not assist in this manner, within any
reasonable financial bounds, in the development
of taxable property.

CIIARLESTOWN BRIDGE.

Good progress has been made upon the first
contract, covering the construction of ten masonry
piei's, on the new bridge to Charlestown, and
the city engineer has recently nearly completed
the plans for the masonry and approaches on the
Charlestown end. The piers now in process of
construction' should be completed next summer,
and it is expected that the bridge will be open
by a year from that time. The estimated cost
is about $1,250,000, of which $750,000 was
appropriated by the city council inside the debt
limit, and the remaining $500,000 is to be pro-
vided by loan outside of the debt limit, upon

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 91

the requisition of the Boston transit commission.
Charlestown street should be widened from the end
of the bridge to Haymarket square, to pi'ovide an
adequate approach; and the necessary expenditure
for this purpose can, in the opinion of the cor-^
poration counsel, be provided for by the transit
commission, under its powers.

CAMBRIDGE BRIDGES.

The legislature of last year passed an <ict pro-
viding, in case of favorable action by the i^espective
city councils of Boston and Cambridge, for the
construction of a bridge across the Charles river in
the line of Magazine street extended, the expense
of its construction, not exceeding $400,000, to be
met by loan, issued by both cities outside of the
debt limit, each bearing one-half of the cost. I
have declined to take any steps under this act,
partly because of a general objection to further
loans for purposes of this character outside of the
debt limit, and partly because it seemed to me that,
although there might be occasion for the building
of such a bridge, this city would derive no such
benefit from it as to make it just for it to bear half
of the expense. A bridge at this point would be
used mainly for the purpose of a county thorough-
fare, and the two counties most concerned should

94 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

case and the large amount of money involved, a
very careful study of all matters bearing upon it is
being made, and special counsel and experts have
been retained for the protection of the inteiests
of the city.

Basin 5 was taken from the city by* the met-
ropolitan water board just one year ago. The
total expenditures of the city upon this work^
amounting to $1,118,975.74, have now been re-
paid by the state.

Under the provisions of chapter 488 of the
acts of 1895, surplus income from water rates, in
excess of interest and sinking-fund requirements
and maintenance expenses, now goes into the
general cash balance of the city treasury. At the
beginning of the cmrent financial year the sum
so received amounted to $109,036.68. Of this
amount $74,000 was appropriated by the city
council, in the month of November, to meet certain
liabilities incurred by the school conunittee in
excess of its appropriation, which the city is by
law obliged to pay; and the auditor and myself
were obliged to transfer the balance of this sum
to meet bills for repairs in school buildings, also
incurred in excess of the appropriation therefor.

It has been thought advisable to restore the
charges formerly made by the water department
against other departments for water used by them,.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 95

SO as to credit the water department, as a
separate account, with the full revenues to which
it is entitled. As these charges were not included
in making the appropriations for the depart-
ments, transfers to some department appropria-
tions will have to be made to provide for meeting
them.

The water department has been managed in a
careful and economical manner, and many deisira-
ble improvements in business methods have been
introduce^. The maintenance appropriation is
$50,000 less than that of last year, but it will
not be exceeded.

FIRE DEPAKTMENT.

During the year a committee of the city council
visited a number of the large cities of the middle
west to investigate the use of pipe-lines, running
from the water front, for fire-extinguishing pur-
poses. Provision has now been made by the
city council for constructing, in the down-town
district, about a mile and a half of pipe-line,
enabling the fire-boat to throw salt water upon
fires, the establishment of which service the fire
commissioner has for some time strongly rec-
ommended. A contract for a new fire-boat,
of such light draught that she will be able to
reach a large stretch of water front which the

96 MAYOR*S ADDRESS.

present fire-boat cannot reach, will very shortly be
placed. After careful inquiry into the subject, the
fire commissioner has, with my approval, given an
order for a powerful self-propelling fire-engine,
throwing a very much larger stream of water
than ordinary fire-engines, to respond to second
alarms, especially in the down-town district, and
this will be in service within a month or two.
Engines of this type have been greatly improved
within recent years, and seem to offer important
advantages, if they are found adapted to our con-
ditions in this city. The fire-alarm branch has
been thoroughly investigated, and a number of
desirable improvements have been introduced.

The city has been fortunate in not having had
any very serious conflagration during the year.
The total losses by fire within its limits for the
first nine months of the current financial year
amounted to $1,006,766, of which sum $440,877
represented losses on buildings and $365,889
losses on their contents. It should be gratifying
to our citizens to know that Boston now stands
high up among the large cities of this country in
the smallness of the percentage of fire losses
relative to the total valuation of property.

The system of allowing each member of the
fire department one day in eight off* duty, the
adoption of which was made possible by a special

MAYOU'S APDRESS. 97

appropriation made by the city council, has been
put into effect, and is working successfully.

HARBOR IMPROVEMENT.

During the past year the commercial organiza-
tions of Boston have been actively interested in
securing an adequate appropriation from Congress
for making the improvements in our harbor
necessary to adapt it to the requirements of
modern steamships. It is gratifying to be able
to state that provision has been made for secur-
ing, during the coming spring and summer, an
accurate survey of the present channel from
Broad sound, showing just what work is re-
quired to make it suited to accommodate the
largest vessels; and the war department has just
issued an advertisement inviting contractors to
submit bids for the whole work, on a continuing
contract, of deepening the present ship channel
to twenty-seven feet at low tide, and widening
it to one thousand feet. Boston harbor will thus
be provided, within a few" years, with a channel
safe and sufficient for the largest vessels, to be
supjjlemented later by an additional channel direct
from Broad sound.

The commonwealth has also shown its interest
in the improvement of our harbor by appropriat-
ing the sum of $150,000, to be spent by the

98 MAYORS ADDRESS.

board oi harbor and land commissioners in:
dredging inside of the termination of the main
ship channel. A large part of this work has
already been completed, and the balance will be
finished by next summer. The work of adapting
Boston harbor in all respects to the requirements
of modern commerce is one of such importance to
the whole state, that it would, in my opinion, be
desirable for the commonwealth to extend the
liberal policy initiated by this appropriation, and
to provide any reasonable sums required to sup-
plement the improvements now undertaken by the
federal government.

HARBOR DEFENCES.

The amount of pi-operty in Boston and its
suburbs exposed to the attack of ships of war
armed with modern long-range guns is so enor-
mous, that, however remote may be the prospects
of such attack, some proper harbor defences
should be provided, if only by way of insurance
against possible dangers. Fortunately our harbor
is capable of being almost absolutely protected
by batteries of modern guns, located at suitable
points upon the headlands and islands. A com-
plete and comprehensive scheme for the fortifi-
cation of the harbor was prepared by the war
department some time since, and within the^

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 99

present year guns will be placed in position upon
several of the most important points, affording a
strong line of defence. In addition to the sixteen
mortars which have for some time been in place
and under garrison at Winthrop Highlands, three
ten-inch gnus have just arrived at Fort Warren
and are ready to be mounted ; during the coming
year five ten-inch guns, for which the platforms
are already substantially finished, will be in posi-
tion on Long island head, and it is also expected
that a battery of eight mortars will be erected
either on Deer island or on Peddock's island.

Four years ago the secretary of war ad-
dressed a communication to the mayor of Bos-
ton, asking the city to give to the general
government certain locations for batteries upon
Deer island, containing about thirtj' acres.
No action was taken upon this communication,
and a renewed application to the same effect
has just been addressed to me on behalf of the war
department. These locations would be taken from
the city only as required for the work of fortifica-
tion ; and only one tract, containing about fifteen
acres, to be used for a mortar battery, would be
required at present. As the government has a
right to take land for fortifications by eminent
domain, the only question is whether the city
will transfer the title without payment. It is

100 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

urged on behalf of the war department that
the transfer of the use of Castle island to the
city should be considered as an offset to the
transfer of these battery sites. It should cer-
tainly be gratifying to our citizens to feel that
they will not be left much longer absolutely
without defence against a naval attack, and I
recommend the surrender of the locations re-
quested, without asking for compensation.

FINANCIAL POLICIES.

It is of great importance, in order that work
may be intelligently laid out and planned, that the
general loan orders should be passed earlier in
the municipal year than has generally been the
practice. Last year the first general loan order was
not passed until the month of July. The important
work of the street department can only be prose-
cuted to advantage when financial calculations can
be made in advance, and I trust that the city
council will take uj) this important matter early in
the year, and authorize at least the greater part
of the loans which the city is to issue.

One of the great difficulties now met with in the
proper management of our municipal finances is that
of obtaining the passage by the city council, at the
proper time, of loan appropriations for purposes
benefiting the city as a whole, and not of special

MAYOirS ADDRESS. 101

interest to any particular locality. The pressure
for loan appi'opriations for local improvements,
many of them desirable and important ones, is so
great, that it is only with much difficulty and con-
siderable uncertainty that such appropriations for
necessary general purposes can be obtained. The
general necessities of the city should always be
given precedence over purely local wants ; but
at the present time it is always difficult, and some-
times impossible, to accomplish this result. The
requirement of a two-thirds vote of all the mem-
bers of each branch of the city council in order to
pass a loan, makes it very difficult to obtain loan
appropriations for urgent general purposes.

While the borrowing of money directly for cur-
rent expenditures has been stopped, a financial
piactice has prevailed to some extent in this city
which has indirectly involved the same violation
of the principles of sound finance. It is obvious
that if money is boiTowed for the term of twenty
years, and expended upon a work of construction
which will only last ten yeai's, and will have to
be renewed at the end of that time, the power
of borrowing is indirectly used to meet current
demands. For example, if the sum of $100,000
is borrowed this year, for a term of twenty years,
for the reconstruction of street surfaces which
will have to be renewed at the end of ten years,

102 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

out of the proceeds of another twenty-year
loan, the city will still owe, when the jfii'st loan
is paid oflF at maturity, the half of the second
loan not covered by the sinking fund provided for
its redemption. Thus after the street surface has
been renewed for the third time, the city will
still be paying, for the further period of ten years,
a part of the expense of the second renewal.

The only legitimate purpose of a loan is to
distribute over a term of years the cost of
some construction which will last at least for the
same period, or of some work which has to be
done only once during such period. Sufficient
attention does not seem to have been paid in
the past to this essential principle of sound
municipal finance. In order to conform to this
principle, the term of the loan passed last
year providing for the street department ward
improvement appropriation was reduced from
twenty years to ten. It would be advisable to
have some official estim^ite made by the city
engineer of the probable life of every separate
piece of construction work provided for by loan,
and to have the term of the loan limited to this
period ; while there are some complications in
the way of following this procedure in the case
of every item in a loan appropriation, I shall
endeavor to inaugurate such a system.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 103

During the past year the idea of materially
shortening the term of any additional loans out-
side of the debt limit, in order to avoid further
mortgaging of the resources of the city for a
"long term of years, was presented by me in con-
nection with the financial provisions for meeting
the expenses imposed upon the city for making
the street changes required in the neighborhood
of the new southern union station. Under the act

providing for this station the bonds issued to pro-
vide the means to meet the portion of the expense
borne by the city cannot run for a longer term than
five years. In this manner the expense of securing
this great improvement, the whole of which will
directly or indirectly come back to the city, is dis-
tributed over the next few years, and there will be
iio permanent increase on this account in the in-
debtedness of the city outside of the debt limit. I
believe that the example thus set should be followed
in the case of any other loans which it may in the
future be found necessary to issue outside of the
debt limit, for improvements which are not expected
to bring in a direct revenue to meet their cost.

In view of the fact that the securities held in the
sinking funds now consist wholly of the bonds of
the city itself, it would tend to simplify our debt
statements, and would show more truly the financial
position of the city, if all of our bonds so held

104 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

could be cancelled, making the gross debt and the
net debt the same. A bill for accomplishing this
object has been prepared by the corporation counsel,
and the practicability and desirability of making this
change, or otherwise altering the present sinking-
fund system, has been referred to the Merchants'
Municipal Committee.

If the valuation of our taxable property con-
tinues to increase at the same ratio as it has
for the last few years, the city will be able
at the end of five years to raise annually, under
the $9 tax limit, some $1,200,000 more than at
present. I believe that we should adopt the finan-
cial policy of trying to keep the expenditures
of most of the departments as nearly at their
present figure as possible, in order that the
greater part of this increase in current revenue
may be given to the street department, where it
is most urgently needed, and will be productive
of the greatest public benefits.

At present there is no central supervision of
the methods of accounting and book-keeping in
use by the different departments of the city, nor
is there any regular examination of accounts for
the pui'pose of verification, except the annual
examination of the accounts of the treasurer and
collector made under the direction of the city
council. I believe that the auditor should be

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 105

given the additional duty of supervising the keep-
ing of all the books and accounts of the city,
and causing them to be examined and verified
at least as often as once a year. In short, the
auditing department should be made a central
accounting office, with comprehensive powers and
duties.

WEST END STREET RAILWAY.

The uninterrupted operation of the AVest End
Street Railway system is a matter of vital im-
portance to the public, and they are therefore
interested in having the relations between this
great corporation and its employees placed upon
a stable and satisfactory basis. It seems to me
that such stability can best be secured by the
recognition, by the management of the company,
of any labor organization, properly organized and
conducted, of which the great mass of its
employees become members, and by the renewal
of some such agreement as was formerly in force
between the company and its employees, defining
the conditions of employment, and providing for
the redress of cases of injustice to individuals.

MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY.

During the last year a much-needed loan ap-
propriation, amounting to $10',000, was made for
the improvement of Mt. Hope cemetery, and a

106 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

further and larger sum should be provided for
this purpose during the coming year. For busi-
ness reasons, if for no others, this cemetery
should be reasonably equipped, to compete, in the
attractions offered, with private cemeteries. I am
satisfied that the investment of a further reason-
able sum of money in this cemetery will bring
a considerable return to the city. The want of
a chapel is now greatly felt, and this at least
should be provided as soon as possible. Under
the present board of trustees the cemetery has
been carefully and conscientiously managed, and
good results have been secured. It would in my
opinion be very desirable to place this board upon
a more stable basis than is possible under the
present annual appointment of all its members.

PUBLIC LAVATORIES.

Boston is very deficient in respect to the pro-
vision of public lavatories, and it is highly impor-
tant that steps should be taken as soon as possible
to meet the wants of the people in this direction. In
London, and in some of the cities of continental
Europe, underground lavatories, placed at points
where there is the greatest confluence of travel,
have been conducted with marked success, and
by a small charge for the use of some of the
privileges furnished have even been made more

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 107

than self-supporting. It was not deemed practi-
cable to make provision for such lavatories in
connection with the stations on the line of the sub-
w^ay, and it is necessary that some proper accom-
modations of this character should be supplied in
their immediate vicinity. I recommend an appro-
priation sufficient to enable one of these under-
ground lavatories to be placed at some suitable
point, in order that this plan of construction may
receive a practical trial.

A MUNICIPAL LABORATORY.

I believe that the city could, "* with adyantage,
establish and maintain, under the board of health,
a fully equipped municipal laboratory, for making
the tests of various articles necessary to determine
whether they conform to the requirements of the
laws, and for deteiinining, by chemical analysis,
the quality, and freedom from adulteration, of the
large amount of food and supplies of all sorts
purchased by the city for the use of the vari-
ous departments. Modern science has placed
at our command the means for readily secur-
ing exact information as to the composition of
almost every article; and the systematic exami-
nation and testing, by a single officer, of every-
thing used by the city, together with the making
of such official analyses as might seem desirable

108 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

for the protection of our people in their purchases
of common articles of consumption or use, would
be productive of valuable results. A considerable
amount of the work which would come under such
a laboratory is already done by or for the city;
but it seems to ipe that there would be impor-
tant advantages in consolidating and systematizing
this work, and affording facilities for its extension.

UXSANITAKY TENEMENTS.

The subject of securing the housing of its
people in suitable buildings, and preventing the
erection or continuance of unsanitary or improper
tenements, is one which should engage the atten-
tion of every enlightened municipality. A law
has recently been enacted by the state of Xew
York which gives the local board of health power
to condemn and destroy any unsanitary buildings,
leaving the land in the hands of the owner, and
giving him compensation only for the value of
the buildings. This statutory provision seems to
me an important and valuable one, as it enables
action to be taken in cases where the expense
of condemning both land and buildings would
be prohibitory. I shall endeavor to secure the
passage of a similar measure at the present session
of our legislature.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 109

RANDIDGE BEQUEST.

During the last year the city treasurer received
a bequest of $50,000 under the will of George
L. Randidge, the income of which sum is to be
used for the purpose of " affording to the children
of the poor of the city, of all religious denomi-
nations, the pleasure of one or more excursions
during the months of July and August in each
year." One year's income of this bequest, amount-
ing to the sum of $2,000, will be available next
summer, and every effort will be made to expend
it in such a manner as to give the greatest
amount of enjoyment, in conformity with the
beneficent intentions of the donor. I am glad
to take this opi)ortunity to express the city's
appreciation of this unusual but admirable bequest,
and the hope that the worthy example set by
Mr. Kandidge may be followed by others. The
growing recognition of the idea that a municipality
can properly engage in efforts to promote the
social well-being and enjoyment of its citizens,
particularly of children, will be promoted by this
gift, and the name of the donor will be perpet-
uated in kindly remembrance.

110 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

FRANKLIN FUND.

No further steps have been taken during the
year in regard to the application of the Franklin
fund, now amounting to over $350,000, owing
to the doubt which exists as to who aye
entitled to act as the trustees of the fund at
the present time. A petition has been presented
to the Pi'obate Court to have this question de-
termined, and the case has just been argued, but
it may have to be taken to the Supreme Judi-
cial Court for final determination. The imique
and interesting character of this bequest, as well
as its substantial amount, makes it of great public
interest that it should be applied in general har-
mony with the purposes of Franklin, and in such
a manner as to constitute a worthy monument
to his memory.

NEW STATUES.

Early in the year the sum of $10,000, from
the income of the Phillips fund, was appropriated
upon my recommendation for the execution of a
proper statue of Colonel Cass, to take the place
of the present unsatisfactory stone figure on the
Public Garden. The commission was given by
me to a young American sculptor now studying
in Paris, who had satisfactorily executed a bust
of Dr. Holmes for the public library. In the

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. Ill

last loan bill I approved an item of $12,100 for
the long-postponed statue of General Joseph
Warren. The Warren Monument Association of
Roxbury, formed many years since for the pur-
pose of securing the erection of this monu-
ment, has requested me to postpone for a few
months the placing of the commission, in order
that the appropriation may be added to, for the
purpose of securing a more adequate memorial, by
contributions which it is expected to raise from
private individuals.

COPLEY SQUAKE.

A plan for the improving of Copley square —
which, in spite of the diyersity in the architecture
of the buildings surrounding it, undoubtedly ranks
as the finest square in the city — was prepared
some time since under a competition instituted by
the Boston Society of Architects. A committee of
that body has recently brought this matter to my
attention; the carrying out of some such plan
would immensely benefit the appearance of this
square, and would be, from an artistic standpoint,
one of the best improvements which the city could
make. The expense of such a scheme would not
be great, considering the valuable result that would
be secured.

112 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

RIFLE RANGE.

Another year has passed without the provision
of a rifle range for the use of the militia, as re-
quired by law, in spite of the fact that the selection
of a suitable site for this purpose has received a
good deal of attention at the hands of the board
of aldermen. There seem to be very few available
tracts of land of the size required and suitably
located, and after a good deal of investigation of
the subject there seems to be general acquiescence
in the conclusion that a suitable tract cannot be
secured at a fair price, unless the city is given the
right to take the land by right of eminent do-
main. An application will be made to the legis-
lature for the passage of an act for this purpose.

After careful enquiry into the present accommo-
dations of the two new armories and the need
of increasing them, I gave my approval to a loan
appropriation of $125,000 for their improvement,
after arriving at an understanding with the state
armory commissioners as to the manner in which
the money should be expended. It seems to me
that the interest taken by the membei'S of the
militia in their work, and the time and money
which they contribute to it, makes it incumbent
upon the city to furnish all reasonable accom-
modations in the armories.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 113

FREE PUBLIC CONCERTS.

Free public concerts in the open air, which
were omitted during the year 1895, were resumed
last year. For a total expenditure of $5,000
sixty-eight concerts were given, forty-six on week-
day evenings in various parts of the city and
twenty-two on Sunday, — eleven of the latter
on the Common and eleven at Marine Park.
These concerts were satisfactorily given by the con-
tractors, and were largely attended and enjoyed
by the public. I believe that a moderate expen-
diture for this purpose is a wise one, and I
recommend a continuance of such concerts during
the coming year.

ISLANDS EN" HARBOR.

The city already owns most of the islands in the
harbor, and it seems to me that there are strong
considerations in favor of bringing under public
ownership those now in private hands. There are
many special municipal purposes for which these
islands are likely to be wanted in the future,
and it is also important to prevent them from
being put to undesirable uses. The city and the
federal government together should control all of
them.

114 iMAYOR'S ADDRESS.

CARE OP TREES.

The subject of having more care and attention
devoted to the shade trees in the public streets,
and of having some special appropriation made for
this purpose, has lately been brought before the
city government. Such trees take a long time
to grow and cannot be replaced, and they should
be regarded and cared foi* as valuable public
possessions. The leakage of gas from pipes, in
the streets has killed some good trees.

PUBLICATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS.

In the revision of the ordinances recently pre-
pared it was provided that every advertisement
required should be inserted — without, however,
excluding publication in other newspapers — in the
newspaper in which the proceedings of the city
council are reported. In harmony with this provis-
ion, an executive order has been issued to heads
of departments that every advertisement given out
by them shall be published in like manner. It
seems to me that it should prove a decided
convenience to persons doing business with the
city to know that they can find in the columns
of a single newspaper every official municipal
announcement, while any advertisement may be
given as wide publicity as may seem necessary by
inserting it in other newspapers.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. US

FANEUIL HALL.

The historical associations of Faneuil hall make
it one of the most vaUied possessions of the city,
and require that it should be protected in every
I)OS8ible way against the danger of destruction by
fire. The occasional use of stoves for cooking inside
the building, which was formerly allowed, has been
discontinued; but nothing short of considerable re-
construction of the inside, with fire-proof materials,
will aff'ord the requisite protection. The armory of
the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in
the upper story of the building, containing valu-
able relics, is peculiarly exposed to danger from
fire, and a connnittee has been ap|)ointed by this
body to urge the necessity of fire-proofing. I rec-
ommend that an ai)propriation suflScient for the
purpose be made as soon as possible.

WARD-ROOMS.

Some of the ward-rooms owned or leased by
the city are entirely inadequate in theii* accom-
modations. I believe that every ward in the city
should be provided with an adequate and proper
ward-room for the holding of caucuses and other
public meetings, and I recommend a sufficient
appropriation this year to enable at least the
worst deficiencies in this direction to be remedied.

116 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

STATE LEGISLATIOK.

At the last session of the legislature there
were passed forty special acts affecting Boston.
One of the most important duties of the mayor,
while the legislature is in session, is to follow
closely all pending measures affecting the city, to
advocate those which seem to him proper, and to
oppose others. As long as matters which ought,
in theory at least, to be left to the local legis-
lative body to deal with are so largely regulated
at the state house, the city government should
at least make itself heard as often as occasion
may require. The new constitution of the state
of Jfew York provides that no special measure
affecting a city shall be finally passed until after
a hearing before the mayor of such city, and the
return of the measure either approved or disap-
proved by him, a two-thirds vote being required
to pass it in case of his disapproval. Even
without a provision of this character, I believe
that the mayor of this city should keep a close
watch upon every legislative measure specially
affecting its interests.

MAYOR'S ADDRESS. 117

EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION.

In view of the fact that executive business
cannot now be regulated by ordinance, it seems
to me desirable thai a code of regulations should
be drawn up and put in force by the mayor, pre-
scribing rules for the government of the various
executive departments. Such a body of regula-
tions would not only give convenient information
to the public as to the prescribed conduct of
business by oflScials of the city, but would also
establish a permanent body of rules, which could
be added to from time to time, governing the
conduct of executive business, in the same manner
as the ordinances operate within their sphere. Of
course a mayor could only give effect to such a
code during his own term of office; but if regula-
tions were found satisfactory in practice, they
would doubtless be continued in force by his
successors.

A year ago I said that the considerable changes
which had been eflfected in recent years in the or-
ganization of the executive branch of the city gov-
ernment had placed the administrative machinery
upon such a basis that the securing of its most
effective operation was more important than that
of securing further organic changes. A year's ex-
perience has decidedly confirmed me in this opin-
ion. The executive organization of the city of

118 MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

Boston is to-day, upon the whole, an admirable one ;
and it is the fault of men, rather than of sys-
tems, if it fails to produce good results. The
changes effected by the provisions of the charter
amendment act of 1895 have been entirely satis-
factory in their operation. The substitution of
single commissioners for boards at the head of the
water, fire, and institutions departments has, in my
opinion, resulted in the expected advantages.

In exercising the power of appointing heads of
dei)artments, vested in the office of mayor, I have
endeavored to fulfil my promise ^^not only to
maintain, but to advance, the existing standard
of capacity and efficiency." I trust that I may,
without overstepping the bounds of due mod-
esty, express the satisfaction which I feel in the
body of men, taken as a whole, api)ointed by me to
official positions. I am glad to take this occasion
to recognize the fidelity, zeal, and intelligence with
which they have performed their respective duties,
many of them of a difficult character. The success
or failure of every municipal administration, at least
so far as the performance of routine duty is con-
cerned, must depend not upon the mayoi-, but upon
the officials under him. The city is also fortunate
in enjoying the services, in many important posi-
tions, of old officials of ripe experience and large
abilities.

MAJOR'S ADDRESS. 119

Gentlemen of the City Council :

The people of Boston, which is so fast as-
suming the character of a great nietropohtan
centre, have intrusted to us interests of vital
importance to their welfare. We cannot appre-
ciate too fully the magnitude of this trust, or
cooperate too zealously in meeting its obligations.
The conditions of the cities of the old world
are different from ours. We are engaged in
working out the problem of governing a great
community under a voting franchise based upon
universal suffi-age. It is our privilege to show
the world that the free institutions of America
— even when submitted to the crucial test of mu-
nicipal government — are capable of producing
results not inferior to the best that can anywhere
be obtained. It should be om* honorable ambition
to attempt to place om* beloved city at the head
of American municipalities, in all that is worthy
and of good report.

out MAR 251922

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Full text of "The Inaugural addresses of the Mayors of Boston"

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